Doolittle Raiders at Oshkosh 2014?

[BeagleOne]

Any idea whether the remaining Doolittle Raiders will be appearing at Oshkosh this year? They were not invited last year. Col. Hite is too ill to travel, and Sgt. Thatcher was using a wheelchair sometimes at the Final Toast last fall, which he was not using at the final public reunion in April 2013. Col. Cole and Col. Saylor appear to be the most able to travel.

Who knows how much longer these true heroes will be around? If they have not been invited yet, I would like to suggest that they be invited asap.

Thanks.

[Rick G.]

BeagleOne,

I think you answered your own question. It was decided that the final public reunion of the Doolittle Raiders was in April 2013 At Eglin AFB in Florida.

[gbrasch]

I was recently invited as a guest to an aviation event where Col. Cole was the guest speaker. He was first "introduced" by a local Chamber person, then a rep from the local AFB, and then his daughter. He mostly answered questions from the audience. And he does have great sense of humor. To paraphrase, one of the questions went like this "When you were bobbing up and down on that ship getting ready for take off, what were you thinking, that you might die? That you might save the war?" His reply, "I wanted to make sure I kept the guy next to me (Doolittle) happy." Afterwards, for a small donation to a charitable organization, he autographed a beautiful print of his airplane. I have it locked up. I almost didn't go to this event for a trivial reason, I am so glad I did, it was quite memorable. If you ever get the chance to see this or other American heroes, don't pass it up.

[BeagleOne]

Well, no, I didn't answer my own question. There's a difference between the public reunions and having any or all of the Raiders speak at Oshkosh. I was AT the reunion in Fort Walton Beach a year ago. Colonel Cole in particular is still making public appearances and speaking at events.