Rey C.
Racing is life... anything else is just waiting.
Once you take into account what a nation (world) of whiny pussies we've become (on the left and the right), just the thought that a group of average young men (not special forces) would volunteer for a virtual suicide mission, that would really be little more than a morale booster/PR campaign, you have to believe that theirs really was "The Greatest Generation". :hatsoff:
DAYTON, Ohio --- The surviving Doolittle Raiders, all in their 90s, considered their place in history for their daring World War II bombing attack on Japan amid thousands of cheering fans, as they prepared for a final ceremonial toast Saturday to their fallen comrades.
A B-25 bomber flyover helped cap an afternoon memorial tribute in which a wreath was placed at the Doolittle Raider monument outside the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, Ohio. Museum officials estimated some 5,000 people turned out for Veterans Day weekend events honoring the April 18, 1942, mission credited with rallying American morale and throwing the Japanese off balance.
Acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning said America was at a low point, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other Axis successes, before the raid by "these 80 men who showed the nation that we were nowhere near defeat." He noted that all volunteered for a mission with high risks throughout, from the launch of B-25 bombers from an aircraft carrier at sea, to the attack on Tokyo and other locations, and the lack of fuel to reach safe bases in China.
Only four of the 80 are still alive. The Raiders said, at the time, they didn't realize their mission would be considered an important event in turning the war's tide. It inflicted little major damage to the targets, but changed Japanese strategy while firing up Americans.
The raid embarrassed the Japanese high command which resolved to prevent further such attacks by destroying the U.S. carriers, a decision that led to the devastating defeat at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 that was a turning point in the Pacific war.
DAYTON, Ohio --- The surviving Doolittle Raiders, all in their 90s, considered their place in history for their daring World War II bombing attack on Japan amid thousands of cheering fans, as they prepared for a final ceremonial toast Saturday to their fallen comrades.
A B-25 bomber flyover helped cap an afternoon memorial tribute in which a wreath was placed at the Doolittle Raider monument outside the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, Ohio. Museum officials estimated some 5,000 people turned out for Veterans Day weekend events honoring the April 18, 1942, mission credited with rallying American morale and throwing the Japanese off balance.
Acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning said America was at a low point, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other Axis successes, before the raid by "these 80 men who showed the nation that we were nowhere near defeat." He noted that all volunteered for a mission with high risks throughout, from the launch of B-25 bombers from an aircraft carrier at sea, to the attack on Tokyo and other locations, and the lack of fuel to reach safe bases in China.
Only four of the 80 are still alive. The Raiders said, at the time, they didn't realize their mission would be considered an important event in turning the war's tide. It inflicted little major damage to the targets, but changed Japanese strategy while firing up Americans.
The raid embarrassed the Japanese high command which resolved to prevent further such attacks by destroying the U.S. carriers, a decision that led to the devastating defeat at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 that was a turning point in the Pacific war.
