The REAL Heroes

It is good to see and hear about some of our old WW II heroes. We should never forget them. I just saw an article about the "Flying Tigers".  What a bunch of heroes they were.  I was not very old when WW II began and ended.  I was about 7 when Japan bombed Hawaii and Pearl Harbor and plunged us into war.  I do remember that famous announcement made on the radio (no TV back then) in December 1941.  And I saw the war come and finally end with those two big bombs dropped on Japan.  But something that grabbed my attention recently was the news item that the last living Doolittle raider died in his late 90's.

Jimmy Doolittle was the leader of a group of pilots and crews that volunteered to fly B-25 bombers on a raid on Tokyo long before the war was over.  Now let me explain.  These B-25 bombers were NOT jets.  They were old prop driven airplanes.  And these bombs were not little things.  They were tons and tons of weight inside these bombers.  Taking off on solid ground was quite a task.  These old work horses had two engines, each about the size of a VW beetle and so loud one could not hear their fellow passengers shouting at the top of his voice.  Everyone had to wear head sets. But they were powerful engines.  They had to be.

I had the pleasure(?) of riding in a few of these B-25's several times, during my tour of duty in the USAF.  No, I was not a pilot, nor an engineer, nor any part of the crew.  I was just a passenger.  Our AF Band flew around to various venues to entertain the troops and participate in local parades, etc.  And we had to get there somehow.  So the AF sometimes flew us in these old relics just to keep them in working order and give the pilots something to do and get some flying time for their records.  The point is -- I had some experience flying in  these little loud-mouthed, B-25, monsters.

But, back to Jimmy Doolittle and the raiders (sounds like a rock group).  I mentioned that they were barely able to take off on solid ground.  But there wasn't much solid ground close to Japan that we could use.  And with such a heavy load of bombs, it took lots of fuel and they needed to have enough fuel left to get back.  So -- how about a floating runway, closer to Japan, in the Pacific Ocean?  How about an aircraft carrier?  Great idea.  Just take off with a really short runway with a load of explosives in the belly; and have this little short runway bobbing up and down with the waves.  If that works, how about the return home to that carrier?  Now we have this airplane designed to have a nice, flat solid. long runway to land on -- but now that runway is the size of a postage stamp, bobbing along, twisting and turning down below.  And you need to hit it just exactly right and then stop on a dime just to stay dry and get back alive and well.  That was the impossible task.

Well, that did not stop Jimmy Doolittle and his raiders.  They did all this.  And some even had been hit over Japan  with anti aircraft fire and had part of their B-25 bomber missing and not working real well.  But they did the impossible, day after day. These pilots and crews were among some of the great WW II heroes. Not all of them made it back.  But they were determined to drop those bombs on the enemy, and deplete their resources enough that when we did finally get those two big bombs ready to drop and eventually end a war that Japan swore they would never surrender;  the way was cleared by these raiders.  And the last of these heroes is now gone. Now -- RIP -- finally --  every single one of you famous Doolittle Raiders.  We owe you...

From the heart of Olaf Hart