A Nation Honors WWII Heroes
Fellow Blogger, Karen Evans has written the final chapter for the Doolittle Raiders. Please enter and read her article. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.
Orders in hand, Navy Capt. Marc A. Mitscher, USS Hornet skipper, chats with Lt. Col. James Doolittle, attack group leader of the Army Air Forces. The group of fliers, in coordination between the two services, carried the battle of the Pacific to the heart of the Japanese empire with a daring raid on military targets in major Japanese cities. The USS Hornet carried the 16 North American B-25 bombers to within take-off distances of the Japanese Islands.
(U.S. Navy photo)
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In long overdue recognition, Doolittle Tokyo Raiders of WWII have been honored with a Congressional Gold Medal. Bestowed for their tremendous valor and sacrifice at a pivotal point in our military history, it is one of our nation’s highest awards.
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Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, provoked a responsive Declaration of War, as Americans enlisted and Doolittle Tokyo Raiders prepared a retaliatory strike.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt…
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Posted on January 10, 2015, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 31 Comments.
Pacific Paratrooper 
Every time I go the VA Hospital I talk to older veterans than myself and let them glow. Too many times the VA gets to be a drop off point for Octogenarians and that is unfortunate. Even met some 90+. They truly are my heroes.
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I certainly hope you are keeping a record of the stories they tell you!! We are always eager to hear veterans’ stories here!!
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On more than one occasion I went to the VA at the behest of the homeless advocacy in Washington. They would help at the VA was the claim but that was all B.S. In fact almost got arrested for sitting in a lounge watching football. I was living in my car.
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And to think – Obama claimed all the kicks were ironed out back when he was a senator and the new director botched things up again!! It infuriates me to hear of this going on. Perhaps deploying our political community would finally create a new perspective for them.
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Thanks gp for this story,
Great heroic effort on behalf of the Doolittle Tokyo raiders.
Unfortunately years pass before adequate recognition is given.
Congratulations to the surviving members of the Raiders, and those who passed before the award.
Ian
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You’re very welcome, Ian. Hindsight always seems to be 20/20, doesn’t it? Thanks for reading.
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Thanks for sharing GP. It was and honor long overdue.
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Yes it was. I wonder why we always wait so long to say Thank You.
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I have no answer.
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Neither do I.
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Excellent article. Thank you for sharing.
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Great article! Thanks for sharing.
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Karen did a great job here I thought. Thanks for reading, Anna.
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Such bravery in the face of the possibility and the reality of such losses.
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Yes, they all volunteered. By today’s standards, is that dedication or fanaticism?
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Tom and GP, I inserted a link in my post, “A Nation Honors WWII Heroes,” to provide the personal account of the training and mission by one of the pilots. It was included in a prior post when the legislative effort to honor these men was stalled and unresolved. You may enjoy the further insight the journal provides into what the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders endured in our retaliatory strike for Pearl Harbor.
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Thank you for sharing that, Karen.
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Hello,
I nominated you as Very Inspiring Blogger Award
Please check my post http://garasi82.com/2015/01/11/very-inspiring-blogger-award/
Hugs,
Risty
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I greatly appreciate the honor, Risty, and I’m very happy you feel I deserve this award, but I’m afraid I’ve kept this site award-free. The reason being, nothing here is about me; I am simply the narrator of what transpired during [what I feel] is a unique and complex era inhabited by a generation with outstanding qualities. I sincerely hope you understand and will not allow my refusal to injure our friendship.
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Excellent ending.
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Thanks, Jacqui.
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It’s always interesting the usage of the term ‘military targets’ and how at the beginning a great deal of emphasis is placed therein … leading up to the massive fire-raids (and culminating in the use of nukes).
Nowadays everyone runs around waving nukes, but still lip service is sometimes paid to the concept of ‘military targets’. In WW2 the Germans considered the London docks as military targets (with a wee bit of overspill, but it can’t be helped) and likewise on all sides.
Not to denigrate the genuine courage of these guys, and face it, thousands more like them. I’m currently reading a book of WW1 fighter pilots (collections of their own writings gleaned from logbooks, diaries, correspondences etc) and it’s amazing what they accepted on a day-to-day basis that would send we moderns running screaming from the field. Heroes? I’ll give them that … why does it take so long to recognise the fact?
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Perhaps because no one can really understand the combat, the long spans of waiting, the fear, the smell and sounds of war and they come home to say – What? No one but another soldier would understand or care – hence these days we constantly ask the veterans to talk and leave their history – make those at home understand. Am I making any sense?
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Perfectly.
No-one who’s never been there can understand — which is why we keep having endless wars. The veterans are way outnumbered by the dupes who believe in ‘glory’ … and any vets trying to put them right are promptly classed as traumatised wrecks and dismissed.
The ones who come home—possibly missing a few bits—can’t communicate because communication needs a common language. How might one convey the difference between red, green, and yellow to a person totally blind from birth? Possibly the realisation is what keeps them silent—silent when they should be raving.
So Hollywood makes a buck, politicians further their careers and old soldiers quietly fade away … except the genuinely insane, there are some who actually like ‘the thrill’.
(Right now I’m also halfway through Ennes’s book “Assault on the Liberty” which should be compulsory reading in schools …)
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Absolutely.
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The Doolittle raid was an amazing feat of low-altitude flying and weapons delivery.
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Yes, it really was and thank you for coming by to read more about it, Allan.
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Thank you for making others aware of the courageous service and sacrifice of these WWII heroes. The history of our veterans should be preserved for all generations.
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It truly should be saved and thankfully we have the internet these days for just such that purpose, eh Karen? And let me thank you for writing such a wonderful article.
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An account of true bravery, thanks GP and Karen. Incredible to see those B-25s taking off from the carrier.
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I realize they were modified for the mission, but it was certainly a feat in itself getting them aloft! Great to see you, Tom.
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