Doolittle Raider's....the Final Toast

[Dakota93]

Saw this on CNN website and felt it needed to be shared.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/14/opinion/greene-doolittle-raiders/index.html?eref=igoogledmn_topstories

I offer my heart felt thanks and respect to these men, as well as those that they will be toasting.

[CWOJackson]

"The men have decided that after this final public reunion they will wait until a later date -- some time this year -- to get together once more, informally and in absolute privacy. That is when they will open the bottle of brandy. The years are flowing by too swiftly now; they are not going to wait until there are only two of them.

They will fill the four remaining upturned goblets.

And raise them in a toast to those who are gone."

In some ways this is a very fitting way for them to end this flight.

When they lifted off the deck of the Ranger it was just them, alone. Over the decades, although there were private moments, they shared their reunions with the rest of us. Their final reunion will be just them, alone again; the living four and the spirit of those who went before them.

Thanks guys.

[PRB]

A heart warming, and at the same time a heart breaking story. Time passes too fast. BRAVO ZULU. :salute:

[Odie]

I was watching a documentary on the Military Channel about WW2 the other evening, probably one that I've seen already but still enjoy. As they did the interviews with
the veterans that lived it, it suddenly occurred to me that there will be a day when we no longer have a living representative from that generation who actually was there. What
a sad day that will be when all we have left are films, photos, and the printed word of the Greatest Generation.

I grew up a child of WW2 so to speak. My Dad, uncles, my Dad's friends, all served in WW2. My mother's and my aunts memories were all WW2-centric; life on the homefront.
My Dad spent 4.5 years in the Pacific and when amongst family, only talked of the
humorous events and aspects of life in a foxhole. But, amongst his veteran friends, the talk was more somber and events recalled were not so lighthearted. It's threads like these
that remind us that time doesn't stop and it passes quicker than we think.

I'm glad that we're living in an age where we can record their recollections so that what they gave in terms of blood and treasure, will never be forgotten.

[PRB]

Well said, Odie. This is what I'm feeling too. My dad served in WW-II, as an Army medic in North Africa and Italy. He's been gone now for several years. He always had funny stories, for us... Can you imagine what that last private gathering will be like for the final four, when they open the bottle for the final toast. It's fitting that it will be between them alone.

P.S. There's a Military Channel program on the Doolittle Raid right now...

[Willy]

Most fitting for the final meeting to be in private and I applaud them for it.

[stansdds]

The few remaining veterans of WW II are now over age 85 and they are quickly departing. America's greatest generation, we will miss them.

[txnetcop]

Excellent and fitting! Thank you for posting this.
Ted

[SSI01]

Another child of WWII here. Dad, his brother, and another two of my uncles, plus family friends were WWII vets and as has been said, in public with any non-vets around the talk was of less disagreeable aspects of military service (but also consisted of some reminders of duties owed to those who did not come back) but among themselves and occasionally to me some things were said that were more somber. Interestingly though, not one word of complaint although his service resulted in a back injury plus loss of a lot of his hearing for my dad. Dad's combat service required him to do something he had been taught since childhood was wrong, but he had no choice. He never spoke of it but it wounded and burdened his spirit for the balance of his life. It's not easy to live with that, and it sometimes affected his relations with others, so in your memories of those now gone please remember the spiritual and psychological wounds they bore when thinking of them.:salute:

[gtirob01]

Excited to see 5 B-25's in town this week and weekend! Plan on going out to the airport to check them out, and pay my respects as well!

[PSULLYKEYS]

Sad we are losing the "Greatest Generation." Reading about young men who volunteered for hazardous missions, like this one, and, or just doing their job when they knew chances of survival were slim shows the true character of those who stepped up.

Thank God we have some of the same today who face the "bad guys" abroad and at home. Fighting evil will be a task forever.

Any student of 1940's history knows how close we came to enslavement by sadistic bullies in that time frame. Also sad new sadistic bullies will continue to appear.