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Tom Bebout
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75th Anniversary Doolittle Tokyo Raid

April 17, 2017 · in Aviation · · 15 · 2.1K

The USAF Museum is currently sponsoring a two day tribute commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Tokyo Raid. Twelve 's from all over the country were present and they will participate in a fly over prior to a memorial service in the museums Memorial Park on April 18, 2017. The bombers were open to the public today for viewing,so guess where I was today. Of the 80 Raider's only one, LTC Richard "Dick" E. Cole survives, he is 101 years young. He plans to commemorate the anniversary in a private ceremony to honor fellow Raider SSgt David Thatcher, who passed away last year. Great day for some good pics and lots of veterans were there representing all the services. Even got some shots of some eye candy as well as Rosie the Riveter. And no that's not LTC Cole in the photo, but it is a WWII vet who's birthday was today.

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30 additional images. Click to enlarge.


15 responses

  1. Profile Photo
    said on April 17, 2017

    Nice photos Tom. Some good looking aircraft.

  2. Some gorgeous B25's, and great story - thanks for sharing.

  3. Great collection of my favorite WWII aircraft!

  4. Some of those B-25's I've seen before and some of them I have not - thanks for sharing those great pics, Tom..."Tondeleo" (from the Collings Foundation), is mysteriously absent - perhaps they're on tour.

    • They were scheduled to have a total of 17 with 12 that showed. Who knows why 5 didn't make it,mechanical troubles, weather, or crew issues. Was surprised that Axis Nightmare was absent since it's based east of Cincinnati. Was hoping to see Wild Cargo, since it came from the Walter Soplata collection. That A/C has a very interesting history.

      • That's what happens with 70+ year old equipment, even freshly restored planes. Sometimes they say "Not today." Rod Lewis was supposed to have the Havoc at EAA last year and made it to about Illinois before something happened. (Never heard what it was.) I saw he's slated for this year again so hopefully he'll make it. I've never seen a Havoc in real life!

  5. "Betty's Dream," the B-25 that insured World War II ended. The Japanese sent to Betty bombers to Okinawa with the surrender delegation. There were two original copies of the surrender documents. The first Betty took off without refueling and ran out of gas over the Inland Sea and was lost. Now only one document. The forced the Japanese to let them refuel the airplane, and Betty's Dream escorted it to Tokyo. They told the Japanese crew that if they tried to fly over the water after reading Honshu, they would be forced down. So Betty's Dream insured the arrival of the documents signed on the Missouri.

  6. Very Cool Tom !

    My brother was there for a previous reunion several years ago. He sent me some photos of the B-25's all doing a formation style "Fly Over". It must have been very impressive to see something like that in person.

    Thanks for sharing these pictures with us...

  7. Pretty amazing so many are still flying. The insurance and fuel costs, plus hangerage ain't cheap. Just a joy to see them.

  8. 🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
    Good photography Tom, very clear and sharp. Some images, if observed in depth, can really the viewer to that spot in time.
    Thanks for sharing these pictures.

  9. Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing!

  10. Wonderful photos Tom - thanks for these.

  11. I was fortunate enough to see Mr. Cole's presentation at EAA's Warbirds in Review last year during the convention. No idea he was there, just heard the presentation on the way to the north 40 and had to stop and listen.

  12. Hello Tom,
    Thanks for sharing these excellent pictures with us. The planes are all in tip top shape. Regards, Dirk

  13. Thanks for sharing the story & your pictures, Tom! I hadn't even hear of this going on. I'd have tried to attend, if I had. 🙁

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