The Doolittle Raiders held their final public reunion

The Doolittle Raiders held their 71st and final public reunion in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, April 16-20.

Of the 80 men who took part in the daring mission to bomb Japan, only four are still living. Three were able to attend this final reunion: Lt. Col. Richard Cole, 97, co-pilot on plane #1 who flew with Col. Jimmy Doolittle; Lt. Col. Edward Saylor, 93, an engineer on plane #15; and Staff Sgt. David Thatcher, 92, an engineer and gunner. The fourth, Lt. Col. Bob Hite, 95, co-pilot of plane #16, could not travel due to illness.

http://www.generalaviationnews.com/2013/05/doolittle-raiders-hold-final-reunion/

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.

Of the 80 Raiders, 62 survived the war.  They were celebrated as national heroes, models of bravery.  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a motion picture based on the raid; "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson, was a patriotic and emotional box-office hit, and the phrase became part of the national lexicon.  In the movie-theater previews for the film, MGM proclaimed that it was presenting the story "with supreme pride."

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 should encounter any of the remaining Raiders, you might want to offer them a word of thanks..

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.