A fourth member of the 1942 raider group, Robert Hite, 90, of Nashville, Tenn., had joined the group’s reunion earlier in the weekend but had to return home on Saturday, Air Force officials said.
The crowd that had gathered to see the Raiders and witness a memorial service in their honor applauded. Sunday was the 68th anniversary of the raid.
The fly-over was timed to occur just before Air Force officials lauded the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders at a memorial dedicated to the men, just outside the Air Force Museum. The 17 privately owned B-25s were flown from around the country to the Dayton region this past week, in what Air Force officials said was one of the largest such gatherings since World War II.
The word “hero” is over-used in this country and broadly applied to sports figures, rock stars and others, museum director Charles Metcalf told the crowd at the memorial service.
“Today, in the truest sense of the word, we are among heroes,” said Metcalf, a retired Air Force major general.
Cole, who grew up in Dayton, said the raiders’ annual reunions around the country are intended to honor the memory of the sacrifices of their fallen comrades.
“It is an acknowledgement of those who have gone before us,” Cole told the crowd. “We all shared the same risks.”
The men then signed autographs for visitors to the museum. They signed hundreds of autographs for well-wishers during the three-day reunion, museum officials said.
Eight of the Doolittle Raiders survive. The other four were unable to travel to Dayton for the reunion. They are William Bower, 93, of Boulder, Colo.; Frank Kappeler, 96, of Santa Rosa, Calif.; Charles Ozuk, 93, San Antonio, Texas, and Edward Saylor, 90, Puyallup, Wash.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author