A final toast for the
Doolittle Raiders
CNN News – Bob Greene – 4/14/2013
Read the whole post at the link above for
some history you’ve not learned at public schools.
On Tuesday, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida,
the surviving Doolittle Raiders will gather publicly for the last time.
They once were among the most universally
admired and revered men in the United
States. There were 80 of the Raiders in
April 1942, when they carried out one of the most courageous and heart-stirring
military operations in this nation's history. The mere mention of their unit's
name, in those years, would bring tears to the eyes of grateful Americans.
Now only four survive.
After Japan's
sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, with the United States reeling and wounded,
something dramatic was needed to turn the war effort around.
Even though there were no friendly
airfields close enough to Japan
for the United States
to launch a retaliation, a daring plan was devised. Sixteen B-25s were modified
so that they could take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. This had
never before been tried -- sending such big, heavy bombers from a carrier.
Do the men ever wonder if those of us for
whom they helped save the country have tended to it in a way that is worthy of
their sacrifice? They don't talk about that, at least not around other people.
But if you find yourself near Fort Walton Beach this week, and if you should
encounter any of the Raiders, you might want to offer them a word of thanks. I
can tell you from firsthand observation that they appreciate hearing that they
are remembered.
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.
Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com
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