History Thanks to the Doolittle Raiders

On the anniversary of the April,18 1942 raid on Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagoya I would like to say thanks to the 77 airmen who have left us and the three who remain. Kind of personal to me. If you have read the book or seen the movie "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" you may remember the Physician referred to as "Doc White" who amputated Ted Lawson's leg, saving his life. Well he was from my home town and on a March afternoon in 1950 he delivered me into this world. He was descended from the White Motor Car, White Truck, White Sewing Machine family. By the way at near the time of my birth he made a house call to tend my Mother, driving a custom '40 Merc convert. Thank you for your service "Doc" and all of your mission mates.

 

Thank you!!Always Remember these true Heroes!! Pete

 

I believe there are still four of these brave men alive. I knew Travis Hoover, the pilot of the 2nd B-25 off the deck of the Hornet. Bravery doesn't describe these men. They flew low over Tokyo, less than a thousand feet in the air when they dropped the bombs, and just over the rooftops after the bombing, heading out of Tokyo towards China. Then a belly landing, in the dark, on a rice paddy in China, where Travis and all his crew walked away uninjured. Travis passed away a little over ten years ago. He was one hell of a man!

 

VERY BRAVE MEN INDEED! We American's owe a lot of our freedoms we enjoy today to all those brave men and women!

 

I met of of the airmen at Hershey about 25 years ago. I have such respect for any of the ww2 guys. My father landed first wave on Omah beach ( combat Enginer with a Ranger Division)

 

A real bunch of Hero's taking on a mission knowing they would have problems ever landing in China. I remember a a kid reading the book "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".

 

great story, history and hero.....thanks

 

Japan did not think their country could be struck directly. We had been having a lot of difficulty in the war at the time. Striking the mainland was a huge turning point for the ar.

 

It truly was the "Greatest Generation". We owe it all to these men and women who lived through the great depression and then fought for the freedom from world aggression.

 

Thank you for posting,I have always been fascinated with military history and the amazing men that served our country,thanks for posting.

I fear this thread will be closed because it's not hot rod related but I sincerely hope not. HRP

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Thanks for posting that great anecdote!

 

He was descended from the White Motor Car, White Truck, White Sewing Machine family. By the way at near the time of my birth he made a house call to tend my Mother, driving a custom '40 Merc convert.

I think this veteran doctor deserves recognition without fear of deletion, A 40 merc and the distinction of participating in one of Americas greatest history events

 

Thirty seconds over Tokyo will give you a huge insight on just how tough those men were. I was lucky enough to find a first edition copy in an old junk store. The names and locations aren't even there.


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These were men among men. Never forget.

 

Thank you for the post 29avee8, it is always good to remember brave men and the dates in American History. Bob

 

The hero's of that fight are passing every day, and must not be forgotten.

 

They are Great men, we must never forget that freedom is not free!

 

I worked for a fella, Glen, who was an Army trained WWII aviator. The war ended shortly after he got his wings so he never saw combat. Glen lives in Boulder Colorado, and he lived in the same culdesacas as Bill Bower. Bill was the pilot of Doolittle's 12th plane, # 40-2278 "Fickle Finger.[FONT= ] [/FONT][FONT= ]http://www.doolittleraider.com/80_brave_men.htm[/FONT][FONT= ] [/FONT]
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[FONT= ][/FONT][FONT= ]My favorite story that Glen told was a conversation they had about the air worthiness of the B-25 Mitchell's. It is said that these planes were a handful to fly, much more difficult than other planes of the era, such as the B-17. Glen asked Bill about this. Bill's response "They were no problem... for a fella that knows how to fly".[/FONT]
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[FONT= ]Bill was well known in the area by the local kids, he always had Jolly Rancher's for them.
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Remembered and Grateful

 

There is gentleman at my church who flew the hump during WWII. Him and his wife live on the next street over from me. I have a ton of respect for him. He is in his last days right now (failing health). I will miss him. I have talked airplanes with him, very knowledgeable. All of the heroes from that time will be missed and we do owe them a debt of gratitude. Thank you, al of you that participated.
Mark

 

I had a friend that was in the flotilla when MacArthur returned to the philipens ,he owned modified stock cars for ever, he's gone now too

 

He's gone now, but my brother in law was a pilot of a B-25 "Mitchell" flying 57 missions in the pacific islands 1942-1943.

 

I was reading an article about the training in a military magazine while getting a haircut. Seems as they trained at a little known airstrip in Willows California. At the time nobody could figure out why they had black painted broomsticks instead of machine guns sticking out the back.....it was to fool the J...s and save weight...!

 

When I lived in pans city fl our vp of operations was retired commander dean davenport who was one of the raiders. He would come in the break room at lunch and chat. We would ask him about it and just did not want to talk about it. Our company pilot was jp Martin. He was associated in some way but never knew how


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I still remember the picture of Capt. Lawson with his missing leg and pants leg pinned up. What a group of great Americans who took it to the Japanese for the first time in WWll.

Another thing is the great Veterans of WWll are dying off at the rate of thousands a week or as they estimate 555 a day. Not long ago my Dad was one of them. I wish I could be half the man he was.

As a tribute to these brave Americans please go to www.beforeyougo.us and click on the picture in the upper right corner to hear and see the tribute.

Warning it may bring a tear to your eye remembering our relatives who served and are no longer with us.

Gary

 

A little off subject but a couple of years ago when on a trip in my brotherinlaw's '54 Chevy. we made a stop at Mt. Rushmore. I happened to be wearing a air show T shirt. An older gentleman started a conversation about his WWII service. Toward the end of the war he piloted a bomber over Japan. He said on one trip they were flying so low that one of the crew radioed him and said "we have a souvenir. A pinecone just flew into the plane".
Yes those guys were all heroes.

 

Greatest generation and Thank You for your Service!!

 

Pretty sure they did their "short takeoff" training at Wagner field, Florida March,1942 (see pix).

 

It amazing that they flew bombers off a carrier. Nothing like starting your mission off wondering if you were going to just get in the air. My grandfather was a waco glider pilot and lived to tell about it. I wish I would have not been a stupid teenager and asked more questions about his service.

 

I posted this image before over on the Vintage Pix thread, but I was ship's Co on the USS Ranger during 50th Anniversary celebration of the raid. The ship deck launched two B's just west of Point Loma and it was a very big deal. But it looked too easy as the Ranger is a lot longer than the Hornet. It was a very cool day, lots of warbird fly-bys after the deck launches plus there was a week of celebrations and static displays on the pier in front of the Ranger at North Island, San Diego, before the big day. I didn't take this photo, as I was standing about half way down the line of spectators ahead of the island. Gary