I saw on the news today that there is only one Doolittle Raider left. Sgt. David Thatcher was buried the other day leaving 100 year old Col. Richard Cole as the only one left. My hat is off to those brave men who risked it all to give something back to the Japanese in those early days of the Pacific war. May you rest in peace Sgt. Thatcher.
Here Here !!
It would be good if this long after the Doolittle Raid if the conspiracy / semi-cowardice / and sundry other theories about Plane 8 and the curious Soviet internment of its crew who eventually escaped from the Soviets could be explained from official records.
Plane 8? I must’ve missed that story. I thought they all crash landed in China.
General Doolittle had quite the send off, complete with a flyover from a B-25 and other bombers. Sgt. Thatcher was laid to rest with full military honors. I had a girlfriend years ago whose father, as a young pilot flew B-24’s. He told me that one time General Doolittle flew into the base where he was at and he went over to greet the famed aviator after he landed. That was his only brush with someone famous.
And here I thought I had done well when I met Elke Sommers while stationed in Bavaria. (She drove a sky blue Jaguar XKE with N.Y. plates. Not something one sees in Bavaria very often ) 
One of the B-25’s diverted to the Soviet Union citing fuel being critical. (this was reportedly due to the carburation being incorrectly set.) Robert G. Emmens probably thought that this was the only way to save his crew. However, things being what they were in those days, it may have been a black bag job, that could not be officially undertaken. I suppose we will never know the true story.
Elke Summer? You lucky dog! The only celebrity I ever met was Dodger great Gil Hodges when I was a little leaguer. My Dad, before he shipped out to the Pacific, told me he used to go to the Hollywood Canteen where he got a chance to dance with some of the biggest movie stars of the day. We were watching some 1940’s movie one day in the 60’s and he told me he had danced with the star of the movie we were watching ( I forget who it was). I said come on, and he said it was true and he used to go there all the time.
She was from the area I was told, and would visit a few times a year. She enjoyed the sports club some friends managed, so I got to meet her on one of those visits. The only other celebrity I met was Hank Aaron on the occasion of celebrating his 715th home run, there was a party at a fancy hotel in town, and the winning Bat, and Ball were in a steel&Plexiglas case which needed two armed guards. (I was one of them) He stopped in for a photo op, so we got to talk to him for a moment. But this is the extent of my celeb encounters.
I saw the ‘Doolittle Toast’ on Forces TV, yesterday, and there were three of them. Perhaps it was a repeat from last year?