Tribute and Doolittle Speech

Jack Manch – Doolittle Raider

Staunton, Virginia has been running a campaign to honor Jack Manch for being the hero that he was.  A low, black granite monolith in his honor to stand on a plot of ground donated by the city in Gypsy Hill Park.

 

 

In the Staunton “News Leader,” Baldwin Jennings,[ raising the memorial fund at 332 Sharon Lane] remarked:  “Standing 6’7”. Manch was far too tall to fly, so General “Hap” Arnold got him to bend his knee… A true American hero who deserves recognition for what he did.” [during the war and later in life].  Manch volunteered and joined the Doolittle Raiders and was one of the men who bailed out over China and worked his way back to friendly lines.

Jack Manch

He returned to Staunton, and “Shorty” remained an aviator.  In 1958 he became the base inspector at Nellis Air Force base.  On the day of his death, Manch rode his troubled aircraft, making certain that a residential neighborhood was not below him.  He later bailed out, but he was no longer high enough.  His body was located in the desert near his plane.

R.I.P. Airman

article from the News Leader by Charles Culbertson; pictures courtesy of George Vass.  Jack Manch’s story was brought to my attention by Anne T. Bell, her blog can be located HERE!

Click on images to enlarge

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Doolittle wiring a Japanese medal to a 550-lb bomb to be used in the raid, this ceremony was aboard the USS Hornet.

During his speech 19 May at his Medal of Honor ceremony, General James H. Doolittle related:

“Along the coastline we observed several squadrons of destroyers and some cruisers and battleships.  About 25 miles to sea, the rear gunners reported seeing columns of smoke rising thousands of feet in the air.  One of our bombardiers strewed incendiary bombs along a quarter of a mile of aircraft factory near Nagoya.  Another illuminated a tank farm…

” However flying at such low altitudes made it difficult to observe the result following the impact of the bombs.  Even so, one of our party observed a ball game in progress.  The players and spectators did not start to run for cover until just as the field passed out of sight.  Pilots, bombardiers and all members of the crew performed their duties with great calmness and remarkable precision…

“We would like to have tarried and watched the later developments, but we were fortunate to receive a fairly detailed report from the excited Japanese radio broadcasts.  It took them [government officials] hours to calm them down to deception and accusation.”  Doolittle added that he gave detailed instructions that the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was not to be bombed.

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This snippet is courtesy of “The Veterans of Foreign Wars Pictorial History of the Second World War.”

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Military Humor – 

It takes a looong time to make a G.I.

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Farewell Salutes – 

 

William Ball – Burke, VA; US Army, Lt.Col. (Ret.), West Point ’53, Vietnam, Bronze Star

Dennis Brenan – Anchorage, AK; US Army, Vietnam

Robert East – Christchurch, NZ; RNZ Navy # 2261, WWII

Earl Knight – Yuma, AZ; US Army, WWII

Michael Heath – Jackson, MI; US Army, Vietnam

John HUmes – Toronto, CAN; British Army, King’s Own Scottish Borderers Inf Reg.

Carl Olson – Boise, ID; US Army, WWII, ETO

Willis Phillips Jr – Belleville, IL; US Air Force, Tech Sgt., Korea & Vietnam

John Runnion – Brandon, FL; US Army, Lt. Col. (Ret. 27 yrs), Vietnam, Bronze Star

Lewis Warren – Conway, AR; USMC, WWII, Korea

 WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

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