Last Doolittle Raider remembers historic mission 75 years ago at EAA Airventure

OSHKOSH - America was still reeling from the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor when 16 B-25 bombers lifted off the deck of an aircraft carrier and figuratively poked Japan in the eye.

The Doolittle Raid that took the battle to the Japanese homeland for the first time in April 1942 was daring and audacious. All 80 crew members were volunteers — for them it was a one-way journey.

The last surviving Doolittle Raider, Richard Cole came to EAA AirVenture on Wednesday as part of the 75th anniversary commemoration of the famed raid. Cole received a standing ovation as he waved to a crowd in bleachers around a B-25 Mitchell bomber dubbed Panchito.

As part of EAA AirVenture's salute to the Doolittle Raid, a dozen still-flying B-25s came to Oshkosh from across the nation, and on Wednesday morning they were parked nose to tail in the Warbird area to simulate what the deck of the USS Hornet looked like as it steamed toward Japan 75 years ago. At Wednesday night's air show, the B-25 bombers re-created the Doolittle Raid.

Cole, who turns 102 in September, vividly recalled practicing for a top secret dangerous mission by taking off on a runway with a line painted across it to simulate the length of the aircraft carrier's deck. But none knew exactly what they would be doing until two days into the voyage when a voice boomed out on the ship's PA system saying they were going to Japan.

The American servicemen erupted in jubilation before quieting down "as everyone thought, 'What have I got myself in to?'" said Cole.

Two of Lt. Col. James “Jimmy” Doolittle’s grandchildren also attended the event on Wednesday. Jonna Doolittle Hoppes, who wrote a biography of her grandfather, noted that few people were privy to the raid.

"The orders were that absolutely no one was to know about it," Hoppes said. "Not even the White House knew about it."

RELATED:Charles Lindbergh's historic Spirit of St. Louis flight re-created at AirVenture — sort of

ARCHIVES:World War II pilot's family finds his plane's nose art

The B-25 bomber, named after Milwaukee native Billy Mitchell, was chosen because it was versatile and relatively easy to fly, said Bill Fisher, executive director of EAA Warbirds. It was the only plane in service in the American military at the start and end of World War II.

Because the bombers could only take off and not land on the Hornet and the planes were specially outfitted with extra fuel tanks for the long flight, the plan was for crews to crash land in China or Russia and somehow get to safety. But when the task force was spotted by a Japanese fishing boat, the crews were forced to take off 300 miles farther away from Japan than planned.

"The fellas that volunteered for that mission, their courage is unbelievable," said Fisher. "To know they would go to Russia or China or some other country and hopefully have the fuel to make it and to crash land with no airports waiting for them. That's amazing."

Cole's pilot became ill shortly before the team was to take off and Doolittle ended up flying the plane. As co-pilot, Cole flew in the right seat next to Doolittle, a man whose picture graced a scrapbook of famous aviators Cole kept as a kid growing up in Dayton, Ohio.

After bombing targets in northwest Tokyo, Cole's plane turned toward China with plans to land at an airfield. But things went awry when authorities at the airfield heard their engines, assumed it was Japanese and turned off the lights. Cole and Doolittle couldn't find a place to land at night.

Shortly before running out of fuel, everyone bailed out — as Cole pulled his parachute's ripcord he gave himself a black eye. He landed in a tree where he spent the night, climbing down in the morning, and walking the whole day before finding a couple of Chinese students who eventually took him to Doolittle, who said, "Boy, am I glad to see you."

On Wednesday Cole was inducted into the Caterpillar Club, an informal group of people who successfully bail out of a disabled aircraft. A letter Cole wrote home to his mother after the raid that mentioned he now was a candidate for the Caterpillar Club was read to the crowd before a representative of Switlik Parachute Co., manufacturer of the parachute Cole wore, presented him with a certificate and a caterpillar-shaped pin.

Of the 80 men who flew from the USS Hornet deck, three died in the raid, and four airmen captured by the Japanese were executed or starved to death. Two others who survived the raid were later killed while flying the China-Burma-India route over the Himalayas known as the "Hump." After the raid Cole went to India, helped establish the dangerous Hump flying route and flew more than 100 missions carrying cargo, earning three Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Doolittle initially believed the mission was a failure and figured he'd be court-martialed for losing all the planes. Instead, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

"Granddad didn't believe he had earned the medal," said Hoppes. "He accepted it on behalf of all the men on the raid. It belongs to this gentleman (Cole) as much as it belonged to my grandfather."