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As of this posting there is just one surviving Raider. Col. Richard Cole was Doolittle's co-pilot and is 101 years young.
In June, 2016, David Thatcher, tail gunner, died at age 96, leaving Cole as the last survivor.
http://www.doolittleraider.com/raiders/cole.htm
http://i.imgur.com/dzjDOXD.jpg
Mr. Cole will be featured tonight on Warbird Radio live (7PM Eastern time).
http://www.warbirdradio.com/2017/04/...e-episode-624/
Of course the media made a bigger thing out of the damage done than it was but Dad said it was the shot in the arm that America needed! God bless the generation that saw their duty and did it!
Ted
11 B-25's overflew the USAF Museum today in Dayton, marking the 75th Anniversary. They originally had 17 scheduled, but a mixture of weather and some technical/engine issues prevented some from making it. The 11 Mitchells that attended were - "Miss Mitchell", "Betty's Dream", "Panchito", "Miss Hap", "Semper Fi", "Devil Dog", "Champaign Gal", "Georgie's Gal", "Yankee Warrior", "Show Me", and "Barbie III". The B-25 "God and Country" also made it to Urbana, prior to the event, together with the 11 others, but it wasn't able to participate in the Dayton gathering/flyover.
EAA announced today that they are working on having at least 16 B-25's at Oshkosh this summer - all 16+ B-25's will be scheduled to arrive during/fly in the warbirds airshow portion of Tuesday, July 25th, and then they will be re-enacting the Doolittle Raid to start the night airshow on Wednesday, July 26th. Meanwhile, they will be parked in the warbird area of Oshkosh. So-far, "Panchito", "Briefing Time", "Yankee Warrior", " Miss Hap", "Barbie III", "Devil Dog" and "Miss Mitchell" are among those confirmed.
I can honestly say that I've been blessed with the opportunity to photograph Lt Col "Dick" Cole 2x now as he is a Texas resident! :mixed-smiley-010:Quote:
Originally Posted by Moses03
Ah I wish I could have been there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bomber_12th
It is an amazing place and that would have been great to see.
I shot this image of Lt Col Cole on 4 July 2016 at a special event...:mixed-smiley-010:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7586/2...143dd553_b.jpgLt Col Richard E. Cole, Last Surviving "Doolittle Raider" by RedTail_Panther, on Flickr
75 years. A long time. When I think back to when I was a wee lad of 10, 1942 was a mere 30 years in the past. A war in which my dad fought. How old was Mr. Cole in 1942? Jesus. A brave bunch. They all were.
sohewouldhavebeen26?...thatwasoldforthenwasntit?.. .imeaniveheardwheretheycalledaguytheoldmanorgramps andhewouldbarelyb30Quote:
Originally Posted by PRB
Is your spacebar broken? :wavey:
Nice photo P.:encouragement:
Would love to be there to see that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bomber_12th
These are the folks that inspired me to start this project, though with mine, from the beginning to now has been longer than the entire war.
- Ivan.