CA-35
Senior Member
Richard "Dick" Cole didn't just have a front-row seat to history. On April 18th 1942 -- just four months after Pearl Harbor -- he sat next to Jimmy Doolittle as 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers lumbered down the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) to begin a mission that ended in a huge morale boost for the United States.
Eighty gallant men volunteered for that successful mission -- which turned out to be a one-way attack -- vengeance for Japan's strike on Hawaii that crippled the US Navy fleet and left 2,403 dead.
Cole, the last surviving Doolittle Raider, died Tuesday in San Antonio, the US Air Force announced. He was 103. "Lt. Col. Dick Cole reunited with the Doolittle Raiders in the clear blue skies today," said Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. His son, Rich, and daughter, Cindy Chal, were at his side, said Tom Casey, president of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Association. Their father will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Casey said.
The crew of the lead aircraft included (from left): navigator Lt. Henry Potter, pilot Lt. Col. James Doolittle, bombardier Staff Sgt. Fred Braemer, co-pilot Lt. Richard Cole and engineer/gunner Staff Sgt. Paul Leonard.
Eighty gallant men volunteered for that successful mission -- which turned out to be a one-way attack -- vengeance for Japan's strike on Hawaii that crippled the US Navy fleet and left 2,403 dead.
Cole, the last surviving Doolittle Raider, died Tuesday in San Antonio, the US Air Force announced. He was 103. "Lt. Col. Dick Cole reunited with the Doolittle Raiders in the clear blue skies today," said Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. His son, Rich, and daughter, Cindy Chal, were at his side, said Tom Casey, president of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Association. Their father will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Casey said.
The crew of the lead aircraft included (from left): navigator Lt. Henry Potter, pilot Lt. Col. James Doolittle, bombardier Staff Sgt. Fred Braemer, co-pilot Lt. Richard Cole and engineer/gunner Staff Sgt. Paul Leonard.
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