Quote:
Originally Posted by Laurie Ette
I would be so wonderfully proud to have Jimmy Doolittle as part of my family. Truly, a great American hero and a leader of great American heroes. (And to think Spencer Tracy played your great-uncle in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.)
A few years ago, I attended a Doolittle Raiders' Reunion. On display, there were those 80 silver goblets, one for each of the Raiders. Each goblet engraved twice with the Raider's name. One engraving right-side up and the other upside-down. When a Raider had died, his goblet was turned upside down.
I cannot remember how many of the Raiders were there. It was a few years ago.
But as you probably know, last year the remaining Raiders decided it was time to open that 1896 bottle of Hennessy cognac and drink the final toast. There were only 3 of the then remaining 4 Raiders in attendance.
That was a private reunion with only family members invited. (Maybe you were there.)
For any readers here who might be interested, I am including a link to an Air Force website. They have made a video of the final reunion and the final toast available on the site. In the middle of the page, you will see where to click to watch it. Just past 30 minutes into that video, the Doolittle Raiders' historian speaks. He tells a good story about a much earlier reunion. 
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/doolittle.asp |
I was not there, but I read about it and saw something on the news. Thanks very much for the link. My brother was named after him. When I was young in the '50s, he was a bit of a recluse in our family--and no wonder. He deserved his time alone.