Article

2011-01-15 -Obits-

Bill Bower dies; Doolittle Raider was last surviving pilot

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Posted by Beavis 2011-01-15 10:14|| || Front Page|| [11128 views ] Top

#1 RIP, hero

Posted by Frank G 2011-01-15 13:46|| 2011-01-15 13:46|| Front Page Top

#2 Can we grow them anymore?

Posted by Zebulon Threremble2404 2011-01-15 16:09|| 2011-01-15 16:09|| Front Page Top

#3 I remember watching Tora Tora Tora, a 1970 movie that dramatized the Pearl Harbor attack. Having grown up in an era where planes were hurled off the carrier deck by a catapult, I was amazed watching the planes waddle off the deck. I thought "Boy, those guys were brave!".

So, thinking about pilots in a BOMBER taking off from a carrier, all I can say is: those guys had seriously large brass balls! And, they realized that it was likely to be a suicide mission - even if they managed to attack Japan.

Again, RIP to all the heroes of the Doolittle raid.

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2011-01-15 16:32|| 2011-01-15 16:32|| Front Page Top

#4 Can we grow them anymore?

All the time. Iraq and Afghanistan proved we have ranks filled with such brave and wonderful soldiers.

We'll see if the rot in the political class and the liberal areas can overcome them.

Posted by DarthVader 2011-01-15 16:45|| 2011-01-15 16:45|| Front Page Top

#5 And Bosnia and South Korea and South America...

Posted by Fire and Ice 2011-01-15 17:38|| 2011-01-15 17:38|| Front Page Top

#6 The proper question is can we grow the civilians to support them on the home front?

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2011-01-15 18:26|| 2011-01-15 18:26|| Front Page Top

#7 So, thinking about pilots in a BOMBER taking off from a carrier...

The descriptions from Ted Lawson's book Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo made quite an impression on me as a child. I haven't seen the book in 35(?) years and can still remember his description of his crew yelling all at once when they first saw the Hornet, how much time they spent saying 'this will NEVER work' and how angry they were on the actual takeoff when the deck crew spent too much time (in his opinion) letting the engines warm up- wasting precious fuel.

Posted by Free Radical 2011-01-15 19:37|| 2011-01-15 19:37|| Front Page Top

#8 Doolittle was born in 1896. The Last Doolittle raider died Jan 10, 2011. A life span some of the 80 men of 115 years. Others died shortly after the raid in other battles during WWII.

One of the Japanese who held a few captured raiders became a Christian Missionary. The Japanese killed 250,000 Chinese civilians looking for these men. Immediately after the raid when Doolittle realized his planes were all lost thought he would be court marshalled. Instead he recieved the Medal of Honor.

Posted by Gleash Bourbon7710 2011-01-15 21:33|| 2011-01-15 21:33|| Front Page Top

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