Comments on: Video: Doolittle’s Raid

By: Janos Hunyadi

Janos Hunyadi — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 07:46:30 +0000

Our education system is lacking in the history department.
Tony737 on April 18, 2007 at 1:27 PM
It’s not lacking – it’s being counter-trained. Remember the recent story concerning parents objecting to a memorial statue of a SEAL killed in Iraq. It depicts him holding a gun, and that “glorifies violence” and “young children should (not) be exposed to that in that way – unsupervised by their parents or any adults…”

Doolittle and Mitchell are being driven down the memory hole. I suspect newly minted history books will have a lot more coverage of Cindy Sheehan.

eeyore on April 18, 2007 at 1:47 PM

Sadly true. History teaching, not only at the secondary level but in college For God’s Sake, has devolved from indifferent to the military to hostile to the military

Military history has become an exotic field, less common that Medieval Studies and Indigenous Peoples History

My older son is in The Stan, and for a while part of his job was finding targets for……….wait for it…….THE FRENCH NAVAL AIR WING PILOTS taking off from a FRENCH AIRCRAFT CARRIER off the coast of Pakistan.

So, cut the Frog jokes, the Surrender Monkey b.s., and give credit where credit is due: the ruling bureaucratic /corporate elites in France are Beneath Contempt, but France has a Real Military

half as good as ours, man for man and machine for machine ( their tanks are sh,,,, ) but Real

the aircraft carrier ( Foch ? ) even floats continuously……….

By: Entelechy

Entelechy — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 04:59:09 +0000

“Freedom is not free” – how simply and profoundly said MM.

Thank you for featuring this thread Bryan.

By: INC

INC — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 02:16:30 +0000

My husband wanted me to relay to you that as a young man in the Army Air Corps, his dad remembers watching Doolittle and his men flying at Pensacola at the base there.

He said that they painted two yellow stripes on the runway–the distance between the stripes being the length of an aircraft carrier. The men then practiced taking off in their B-25′s within that distance. My father-in-law watched them in those dry runs.

It was very secret-no one knew what was going on and questions were not answered.

Our gratitude to these brave men!

By: oakpack

oakpack — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:57:12 +0000

Salute to the Doolittle Raiders. (ex-Air Force)

By: Timber Wolf

Timber Wolf — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:51:16 +0000

Definately less important than a year with Hot Air. For the rest of you. Confederate Air Force with footage of Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot Lt. Richard E. "Dick" Cole. Air Show 5-27-06 Bay City WI.

By: MirCat

MirCat — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:25:19 +0000

Things were very different back then. We didn’t have politically biased Pentagon officials leaking war strategies to the New York Times.

The result?

Successful missions.

fogw on April 18, 2007 at 10:22 AM

and

Things were very different back then. We didn’t have politically biased Pentagon officials leaking war strategies to the New York Times.

The result?

Successful missions.

fogw on April 18, 2007 at 10:22 AM

Needed to be said again.

They had no idea what I was talking about. Our education system is lacking in the history department.

Tony737 on April 18, 2007 at 1:27 PM

I don’t remeber heary ANYTHING about this when I was in school.

- The Cat

By: Tantor

Tantor — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:52:45 +0000

If they flew the Doolittle mission today, the New York Times would castigate Bush for launching a doomed mission with little prospects of success to further a war impossible to win. Meanwhile the Truthers would be claiming it was impossible for Japanese planes to fly all that way to Pearl Harbor; it must have been our own air force that hit us and sunk the Arizona with controlled demolitions. After all, fire has never melted steel.

By: Texyank

Texyank — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:21:49 +0000

Bentwaters , Woodbridge in Suffolk U.K

The one in germany was T.D.Y. Ramstein. I think
been a looong time.

And Wheelus AFB in Libya until The Col K.
kicked the yanks out.

By: Tony737

Tony737 — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:43:09 +0000

Hey Tex, me too. RAF Greenham Common/Welford in the U.K. and Spangdahlem in Germany. You?

By: Texyank

Texyank — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:35:47 +0000

Michelle and I interviewed some of the surviving raiders and sailors who helped get the mission airborne on Veterans Day last year.
I spent my Air Force years mostly in Tokyo, and much of that time at one of the bases that Doolittle’s Raiders struck. So it was a thrill to meet such legends and heroes.

Your both very fortunate. I’m jealous.
I spent My A.F. years in the U.K and Germany.

By: BacaDog

BacaDog — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:19:50 +0000

The story of the Doolittle raid is amazing. Someone said it earlier, but you had volunteers that were trying something entirely new, in fully armed and fueled aircraft off on a mission which they knew they would likely not return from.

They called it duty, and didn’t shy away.

By: robo

robo — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:38:16 +0000

DAMN SKIPPY Sven!!! I’ve got one who left for the gulf Monday and the other heads to Iraq in September.

csdeven on April 18, 2007 at 2:09 PM

God bless them and their service, I will be joining them soon.

Sven on April 18, 2007 at 2:32 PM

Sven

you have our thanks and prayers…may god bless and stay safe…..

By: robo

robo — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:34:32 +0000

Thank your sons for serving and may god bless them and return them home safely….Our son returned from “the sandbox” last june…

By: Sven

Sven — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:32:40 +0000

DAMN SKIPPY Sven!!! I’ve got one who left for the gulf Monday and the other heads to Iraq in September.

csdeven on April 18, 2007 at 2:09 PM

God bless them and their service, I will be joining them soon.

By: csdeven

csdeven — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:09:31 +0000

They are in Iraq and Afghanistan and proudly serving our country all over the world.

Sven on April 18, 2007 at 12:10 PM

DAMN SKIPPY Sven!!! I’ve got one who left for the gulf Monday and the other heads to Iraq in September.

By: eeyore

eeyore — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:47:26 +0000

Our education system is lacking in the history department.
Tony737 on April 18, 2007 at 1:27 PM

It’s not lacking – it’s being counter-trained. Remember the recent story concerning parents objecting to a memorial statue of a SEAL killed in Iraq. It depicts him holding a gun, and that “glorifies violence” and “young children should (not) be exposed to that in that way – unsupervised by their parents or any adults…”

Doolittle and Mitchell are being driven down the memory hole. I suspect newly minted history books will have a lot more coverage of Cindy Sheehan.

By: Tony737

Tony737 — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:27:47 +0000

You guys’ll like this. I work for Southwest, I used to be an Operations Agent in Ft. Lauderdale, that means I did the weight and balance, deplaned and boarded the passengers, etc. Anyway, one day I was waiting for my flight to arrive, I pull up the paperwork, which includes the names of the Crew. The Captain’s name is Billy Mitchell, the First Officer’s name is Jimmy Doolittle. I look at the Crew list and think “Is this for real?” So when the plane got in, I go into the cockpit to drop off the paperwork and hold up the Crew list and said “Is this a joke?” Billy said “Nope, that’s us.” I said “Any relation to those guys?” Billy said “Yup, great-grandson.” Jimmy says “Grandson.” I said “Holy crap! Do you have any idea … uh, yeah, I guess ya do.” They had already discussed it so no big deal by the time they got to me. So when I get ready to load up the passengers, I got on the mic and explained who the pilots were, but they just looked at me like “Who? Yeah, so what?” They had no idea what I was talking about. Our education system is lacking in the history department.

By: billy

billy — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:21:48 +0000

I wonder what it was like to live in a country where Doolittle was the name of a war hero (!) rather than a description of our foreign policy.

By: robo

robo — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:16:41 +0000

Sven,

you could not have said it any better to Moc!

and to the heroes of the doolittle raid “Nothing can stop the Army Air Corps” thank you for your humble bravery.

By: Sven

Sven — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:10:24 +0000

Where do we find guys like that today ?

moc23 on April 18, 2007 at 10:59 AM

They are in Iraq and Afghanistan and proudly serving our country all over the world.

By: lan astaslem

lan astaslem — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:05:23 +0000

Courageous and self-effacing. It never ceases to amaze me how these heroes always seem to find it somewhat uncomfortable to be labeled “heroes.” But that’s exactly what we are, and we are forever indebted to them. May God bless them all.

By: Zorro

Zorro — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:59:52 +0000

May God Bless the Doolittle Raiders!

By: morganfrost

morganfrost — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:54:21 +0000

God bless them.

By: CurtZHP

CurtZHP — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:17:26 +0000

Where do we find guys like that today ?

moc23 on April 18, 2007 at 10:59 AM

Patience. I’m still growing one!

By: moc23

moc23 — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 14:59:42 +0000

Where do we find guys like that today ?