Doolittle Raiders' last toast

[El Supremo]

Richard Cole, one of four surviving members of the 1942 raid on Tokyo led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, opens an 1896 bottle of cognac the raiders had been saving for their final toast, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013, at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

DAYTON, Ohio — The last of the Doolittle Raiders, in their 90s, offered a final toast Saturday to their fallen comrades, and pondered the place in history of their April 18, 1942, attack on Japan.

“May they rest in peace,” Lt. Col. Richard Cole, 98, said before the three Raiders present sipped an 1896 cognac from specially engraved silver goblets. The cognac was passed down for the occasion from their late commander, Lt. Gen. James “Jimmy” Doolittle, who was born in 1896.

In a ceremony Saturday evening at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, Ohio, hundreds of people, including Raiders widows and children, descendants of Chinese villagers who helped them, and Pearl Harbor survivors, watched as a historian read the names of all 80 of the original airmen and the three Raiders each called out, “Here.”

In the afternoon, a wreath was placed at the Doolittle Raider monument outside the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton. Museum officials estimated 5,000 people turned out for Veterans Day weekend events honoring the mission.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/nov/09/doolittle-raiders-final-toast-vancouver-bombardier/

[longship]

1. That guy flew and landed a vintage B-25 today!!!

He is 97 and his significantly younger co-pilot said that he nailed it. All those decades and the guy still has the right stuff.

Another DU thread about it:

Richard Cole, age 97 and Doolittle raider, can still fly and land a vintage B-25.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024006687

[Eleanors38]

2. Shangri-la. DUers should read the history of this raid. Inspirational, even today.

[Berlum]

15. .

[madrchsod]

3. my next door neighbor was the last man to hold the bottle of cognac from ww1

he was a bombardier which meant he dropped bombs from his seat behind the pilot.

doolittle's raid was a small victory for america at the time we needed one.

[oneshooter]

4. Doolittle's raid directly caused the

pivotal Battle of Midway, which decimated the ranks of Japans highly trained carrier pilots. A loss that they never recovered from.

[Initech]

5. Hey they earned it!

[philosslayer]

6. I wonder how many civilians they killed?

N/t

[Laochtine]

7. Maybe it's a little

Different to fight a nation that declares war on you an is bent on domination.

[Stainless]

8. GFY philosslayer

The facts are that the Doolittle Raiders bombed Military targets. The Japanese attacked civilians all over the Pacific including Pearl Harbor. The Japanese also slaughtered many civilians in China (Nanking comes to mind).
Why don't you research your question yourself, and get back to us with the answer? Or was it merely rhetorical?

[Cooley Hurd]

10. +1

[sarisataka]

9. ~250,000

Chinese were killed by the Japanese while searching for the Raiders

[Decaffeinated]

12. Ignorant and trolling with a hint of holier than thou...

Classy

[Aristus]

16. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were crimes against humanity.

But the Doolittle Raid, I'll stand up for. It was needed...

[CAG]

17. I wonder how many a&$@;ts are on DU?

[Cooley Hurd]

11. Jeez... only 4 left.

[Berlum]

13. Coming as it does with Fukushima and today's earthquake, this is highly symbolic

...and likely reflected in a range of hugely intense feelings among the people of Japan.

[Berlum]

14. Strong earthquake hits eastern Japan, shakes Tokyo

Source: The Economic Times

TOKYO: A 5.5-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Japan today, rocking buildings in Tokyo, seismologists said.

The quake struck at 7:37 am (2237 GMT Saturday), in Ibaraki prefecture, north of the capital, at a depth of 59 kilometres (37 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

The crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant was shaken by the quake but there were no abnormalities reported, the plant's operator said.

The quake lasted about 30 seconds and was felt by many people in Tokyo.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014644319