RIP Lt. Col Richard Cole (the last Doolittle Raider)

[Parliament 14260]

https://pjmedia.com/jchristianadams/last-doolittle-raider-dies-lt-col-richard-cole/

Col. Richard Cole was the co-pilot of "Crew 1," which means he sat alongside Col. Jimmy Doolittle at the tip of the tip of the American spear aimed at Imperial Japan. The Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942, was a virtual suicide mission. It was a daring sea-launched bombing mission in the earliest days of World War II.

After Pearl Harbor, Americans were desperate to hit back, and that first hit was the Doolittle Raid. Sixteen Army Air Force B-25s took off from the USS Hornet to hit multiple Japanese cities. The plan was to fly to China because a B-25 could not land on an aircraft carrier. Only one of the 16 planes actually landed safely -- in the Soviet Union. The fate of the rest of the crews was a story of heroism and sacrifice.

[deadshank 24653]

RIP

[Dennis Taylor 18829]

RIP to a true American bad ass . 

[closetojumping 62738]

I believe the great thespian Josh Hartnett played him in the war time classic, “Pearl Harbor”. 

[Armybrat 40850]

RIP.

I have the Doolittle Raid lead navigator’s autograph somewhere.

That daring attack, which caused relatively little physical damage, was a huge morale booster for America.... and put the shocked Japanese on notice of what was to come.

Fuck Tojo.

[Parliament 14260]

AB. What was Doolittle like, in real life?

[HouTex 1867]

RIP.
I have the Doolittle Raid lead navigator’s autograph somewhere.
That daring attack, which caused relatively little physical damage, was a huge morale booster for America.... and put the shocked Japanese on notice of what was to come.
Fuck Tojo.

Yes, and fuck many of the WWII jap soldiers. There were war crimes galore over there. That mother fucker The Bird should have hanged. I think we felt guilty after nuking the bastards that we intentionally let many war criminals go free.

[AUS-97HORN 11765]

and so passes to history the story of the Raiders.   when the last ww2 vet passes away  sometime around 2039-2045 this country is going to really need to look back on that entire generation and understand the true meaning of sacrifice.

[futureman 22467]

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

I believe the great thespian Josh Hartnett played him in the war time classic, “Pearl Harbor”. 

one of the best war epics ever made. 

[Armybrat 40850]

42 minutes ago, Parliament said:

AB. What was Doolittle like, in real life?

Don’t know, but another real hero was Major Webb, our next door neighbor at Camp Hood (now Fort Hood) in 1948-49. He survived the Bataan Death March and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp near Nagasaki. He never fully regained his health and died a few years later.  RIP.

[Hate 20108]

RIP to a true American hero.  I can only imagine the surprise the Japanese must have felt when those bombs were dropped. 

[HouTex 1867]

4 minutes ago, Hate said:

RIP to a true American hero.  I can only imagine the surprise the Japanese must have felt when those bombs were dropped. 

Yep.  They woke up the giant.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

I’ve read every book that I can find on the raid and I am just in awe of the bravery of those men. Proudly hanging behind my desk:

[InkaUtexas 25951]

RIP Sir. 

If anyone is down in San Marcos the little aviation museum at the airport has a solid collection of information on the Raiders. And a B-25. 

[Pato del Muerto 52504]

Might deserve its own thread, but the last Tuskegee airman just died a couple of days ago as well.

https://www.blackpressusa.com/robert-mcdaniel-last-member-of-tuskegee-airmen-from-fort-worth-dies-at-96/?fbclid=IwAR2QCSPHsQPn4KwsOG-n8SUrxduvawTqHACqOEANu6RkzDVoAomuQfAbaMA

[SideSlip 35]

RIP Sambo Cole, Richard Cole’s son, who passed away 2 days after his dad.

https://www.kxxv.com/news/local-news/son-of-last-surviving-member-of-doolittle-raiders-dies-2-days-after-his-fathers-death

[Gil Bang 25960]

I read yesterday that we are down to 7 Navajo code-talkers.

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

2 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

I read yesterday that we are down to 7 Navajo code-talkers.

Just curious, but does this reflect all code talkers, or just the Navajo?

[Gil Bang 25960]

37 minutes ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

Just curious, but does this reflect all code talkers, or just the Navajo?

Good question.  IIRC, the story said "according to the Navajo Nation..." so I'm guessing Navajo only. 

[LongestHorn 759]

"After attacking Japan, most of the aircrews flew on to Free China, where low on fuel, the men either bailed out or crash-landed along the coast and were rescued by local villagers, guerrillas and missionaries.  That generosity shown by the Chinese would trigger a horrific retaliation by the Japanese that claimed an estimated quarter-million lives and would prompt comparisons to the 1937-38 Rape of Nanking."

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/untold-story-vengeful-japanese-attack-doolittle-raid-180955001/

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

9 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

Good question.  IIRC, the story said "according to the Navajo Nation..." so I'm guessing Navajo only. 

It was an brilliant - albeit obvious - move to use people who spoke in languages that almost no one understood. And to top it off, some of those languages sound very similar to the untrained ear. 

[AUinHsv 579]

I think I have posted this before but the term "suicide mission" is not overused here.  They took off knowing they probably did not have enough fuel to make it to China because they had to take off 200 miles farther out than expected. Luckily they got a huge tailwind so most of them got there. Takes a lot of courage to do that take off pretty much knowing you will land somewhere in an ocean in enemy territory.