Keefe: Doolittle Raiders last toast tonight...quite moving

[ChicosBailBonds]

They had it live on USAF website. 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/t/story/big-crowd-expected-ohio-wwii-ceremony-20836992?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

[Sir Lawrence]

That museum, by the way, is a must see if you are ever near Dayton/Cinncinati and have a few hours to spare. 

[keefe]

Thanks, Jamie. It gave me goose bumps. 80 of the finest men born of this great Republic. They accepted death as inevitable; for the survivors, every day since has been a bonus.

What is amazing is that their already desperate mission was made even more hazardous when the battle group was discovered by Japanese fishing vessels several hundred miles before their scheduled launch point. There was no question but to launch immediately, a decision they accepted with grim determination.

Many today cannot conceive of subordinating their mortal existence to serve the greater good. There is no finer attribute in a man.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Remember being spellbound as a kid learning about their mission.  Sorry to hear it's their last toast but great to see it was feted in such a grand manner.

[keefe]

At that point in the war America was on its knees with nothing but a string of catastrophic defeats. The Raiders caused little physical damage but the psychological effect was devastating. Most importantly, they gave hope to the American people. What a magnificent gift. 

[keefe]

Images from the mission

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Thanks for sharing.  When I was growing up, my absolute favorite book was The Big E by Stafford.  My paperback copy was dog-eared by the time I lost track of it.  Bought the reprint a few years ago.  That's where I read about the Doolittle raid.

[GGGG]

Thanks for sharing.  When I was growing up, my absolute favorite book was The Big E by Stafford.  My paperback copy was dog-eared by the time I lost track of it.  Bought the reprint a few years ago.  That's where I read about the Doolittle raid.

When I was a kid, I read some book on the Doolittle Raid.  I must have read it a dozen times.  It was pretty much the first book I read that gave a "real life" account of what war was like.  For the life of me I cannot recall the name of that book, and my parents can't find it.

[ATWizJr]

When I was a kid, I read some book on the Doolittle Raid.  I must have read it a dozen times.  It was pretty much the first book I read that gave a "real life" account of what war was like.  For the life of me I cannot recall the name of that book, and my parents can't find it.

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo?

[GGGG]

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo?

Yeah...I think that was it. 

[Benny B]

Doolittle has one of the most interesting mission epilogues of WWII -- specifically, the plane piloted by Ed York which diverted to the USSR as it was too low on gas to reach China after the bombing.  Although the Soviet Union was an allied force, York's crew was detained as a result of the USSR's neutrality pact with Japan (not to mention a pre-mission communique from Stalin informing of the USSR's opposition to any bombers landing on Soviet soil).  After a little more than a year and a month in captivity, the crew was transferred to Turkmenistan where York managed to bribe a local guide into taking them across the mountains into Iran, and ultimately, the safety of the British consulate in Tehran.  All crewmen not only survived the ordeal, but rejoined the war in the European theater.  But the real kicker -- it was later discovered that the KGB's predecessor organization, the NKVD, actually staged the servicemen's escape in order to repatriate York's crew without violating their neutrality pact.