Doolittle Raiders Gather One Last Time Next Month

From the Oct. 11, 2013, War History Online.

There are now only four remaining raiders from the 80 who took off with Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle that April 18, 1942, on a raid the Japanese didn't believe could happen. It did and provided a huge boost to U.S. morale and blow to Japanese pride.

Three of them: Lt. Col. Dick Cole, 98; Lt. Col. Ed Saylor, 93 and Staff Sgt. David Thatcher, 92, will attend the last reunion in Dayton, Ohio, next month. Lt. Col. Robert Hite, 93, will not be attending because of health issues.

Only an additional 1,000 are invited to attend. Regrettably, one of those won't be me, but I sure would like to be there.

They will lift their glasses and sip some 117-year-old Hennessy Very Special cognac and say goodbye to a decades old tradition.

I'll sure be writing about the ceremony.

The Greatest Generation. --GreGen