30 Seconds That Made History..

[WILMASBOYL78]

Some of the greatest moments in American history are slowly being forgotten. On April 18th, 1942 Col. Jimmy Doolittle and his band of "Raiders" launched the first attack on main land Japan. America needed a boost after the horror of Pearl Harbor and Doolittle was just what the doctor ordered. In today's world of high tech military gadgets and computer controlled drones...the accomplishments of those 80 brave men in their Mitchell B-25 Bombers is something to be proud of and more importantly "remembered".

**there are lots of great articles on the web about the raid, their annual reunion and much more...take some time and read some of the stories...and if you can, show them to your children or grandkids...they need to see it, too.

Lest we forget [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif[/img]

wilma

[PeteLeathersac]

Amen and thanks for the reminder.
So true the great words of WC...&quot;Never was so much owed by so many to so few&quot;...
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif[/img]
~ Pete

[SS427]

My dad presenting Jimmy Doolittle a replica model of Jimmy's B25 sometime in the early 70's.

[300deluxeL79]

excellant read about the raid by craig nelson, 'the first heroes' [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif[/img]

[L72copocamaro]

Great reminder. Thanks

[69VN]

I remember watching documentaries of this raid on the Military Channel now American History Channel. Very important turn of events that would help change the course of history and show how vulnerable the Japanese homeland was vs. the US military.

SAL [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif[/img]

[earntaz]

Back in the 1980's, I met an old warrior in a VFW in Illinois -- he was a sailor/deck hand on the Hornet during this great event. He indicated there was some betting going on among those present whether the B-25's would make in off the deck. He said the old Hornet was driving so hard into the wind that some of the first 25's seemed to hang in the air after leaving the end of the deck.

That old fellow remembered everything that happened that day and was more than happy to tell the story ...

Happy Easter ALL -- The TAZ

[427TJ]

I may have shared this here before but it's worthy of a repeat.

My dad was a newspaper reporter in the SF bay area for almost 40 years and covered mainly aviation related stories. In 1967 he covered the 25th reunion of the Doolittle Raiders and it was held both at Travis AFB near Fairfield and also down at NAS Alameda where the raiders met the USS Hornet and embarked on their mission. A local pilot owned a B-25 and had it painted in a mostly accurate 1942 USAAF 'Doolittle' paint scheme for the event. One of the items on the schedule was a flight from Travis down to Alameda along the bay, a similar route the raiders took in '42. My dad was onboard and Jack Hilger, an airplane commander on B-25 #14 (14th to launch), rode in the copilot seat. General Doolittle was there as well but politely declined to go on the flight. My dad, seeing his lead, began his story with the sentence, &quot;Have I flown on a B-25? Why children, I've flown in a B-25 on a day when even Jimmy Doolittle wouldn't go!&quot; My dad rode most of the way in the glass nose and said it was a great view all the way. They swung in low over San Francisco and then landed at Alameda. That particular B-25 often flew low over my house in the east bay hills because the owner lived just east of where I lived and his son would fly the B-25 and buzz their property. It was really exciting to hear it coming and I blew through the screen door many times in the early '70s. The same group of guys operated a B-29 (&quot;Fertile Myrtle&quot and it too buzzed the house several times. Talk about a great sound. Anyway, that particular B-25 finally went to England for use in the 1977 movie &quot;Hanover Street&quot; and then on to Spain where it now resides in a museum. Below is a photo a buddy's dad took of the B-25 that my dad flew in from Travis to Alameda and the photo was taken at a small airshow at Oakland in 1967. I'm the kid under the nose looking up. The B-25's civil registration was N86427.

[L72copocamaro]

What a great memory to have!

[PeteLeathersac]

Very cool, thanks for sharing that!
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete