Nice trip report, Zack. Here's mine.
A friend of mine, Dan Wegmueller is a features writer for a local newspaper and radio station group in Monroe, Wis. He called me several weeks ago and asked if I wanted to go see the Final Toast ceremony in Dayton. It was closed to the public but we could apply for media passes through his newspaper, he as a writer and me as a photographer since I had done work for them in the past. I had been reading about the Doolittle Raiders since Junior High School in the early 80s, so I gave an emphatic "Yes!" response. As a long time WWII aviation history buff, I couldn't pass this up.
The newspaper agreed to send us and our media request was approved by the Air Force Museum, so we set out planning the trip. Dan has a sweet Ranger-powered 1939 Fairchild 24 and we figured we could fly to Dayton from our southern Wisconsin base. Just before sunrise on Saturday, November 9, we took off from Dan's home base at Albany (54W) and made a quick fuel stop at Brodhead (C37), then off to Dayton. A direct route would've take us right over the top of Chicago O'Hare, but flying an old airplane over the biggest metropolitan area in the Midwest wasn't anything we wanted to do. The fact that this airplane was older than the Doolittle B-25s was not lost on us, so we dog-legged around the Class B for the 300 nm trip. We picked up a 30-40 knot tail wind and made it to Dayton in 2.5 hours. Not bad for an airplane that cruises at 100 knots.
Navigating old-school around Chicago.
Dan's Fairchild dresses up the ramp at Wright Bros. Aviation.
First stop was the Grand Arrival at the Air Force Museum. The three attending Raiders would be driven in with a police escort and the city had asked people to line the streets as a show of appreciation. There was a good crowd along the drive into the museum so we took up a position and cheered them on as they came in.
The drive in to the museum is lined with well-wishers.
Next was a wreath laying ceremony outside the museum at the memorial marker for the Doolittle Raiders. This is where I discovered how big a deal this day was going to be. There was more Air Force and Navy brass walking in than I had ever seen in one place. Generals, colonels, majors and some other ranks I didn't recognize. Dan and I were marshaled in to the media pen, which was right behind the brass.
Surprisingly, there weren't many media folks there besides the local TV stations, at least not that I saw. The Raiders were brought in by escorts, seated, and the ceremony began. We started to feel like we were in somewhat of a hallowed place. There were some speeches, an honor guard, invocations, the national anthem and the wreath laying, followed by a five-ship B-25 flyover performing the missing man formation. That was quite a sight and the crowd roared its approval. Sadly, I didn't get a decent picture of the flyover.
We media folks were then brought inside the museum and up to the second level "Arnold Room" where we had exclusive access to the three Raiders for interviews. Dan and I had discussed on the flight out, what exactly do you ask these guys that they haven't been asked a thousand times before. Dan kept it timely and asked a few brief questions while I snapped some pictures. We sincerely thanked them for what they had done back in 1942 and in the years since. Again, Dan and I had a sense that we were in a very special place of honor among these men and took time to appreciate where were and what we were witnessing. The Final Toast would be the end of a very long mission for these guys, and here we were taking it all in. There were perhaps a dozen other reporters quietly doing interviews when the local TV news crews rolled in.
I'll get on my soapbox here for bit...it was at this point that I was embarrassed to be part of the "media" and all that word has come to represent in certain circumstances. Many of the news crews and especially the photographers were dressed in their Saturday morning yard work best, even though we were told to wear business attire. They talked loudly among themselves and largely seemed disinterested in what was probably just another news assignment. It was clear they had little respect for what they witnessing. I kept thinking that there were many people who would have given anything to be in that room among those men, yet it was reserved for these TV clowns. I heard one reporter sit down in front of one of the men and say, "Please state your name and spell it for me exactly how you would like it to appear on TV tonight." Do your homework, pal...and show some respect! We left the room at this point, feeling somewhat out of place.
The cameraman is busy texting while the reporter asks C.V. Glines some uninteresting questions.
We had a couple hours to kill before the Final Toast ceremony, so we did a whirlwind tour of the museum. If you haven't been to the National Museum of the Air Force, it is well worth the trip to Dayton. Plan on an entire day or more. I was last there in 1982 and it was a completely different place this time. Go here: http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil
We were told to be in the media area at 5:30 for seating. We had use of a small riser behind the seated guests and were told to stay out of the aisles, away from the stage, no interviews and no interruptions. We could use flash photography but no tripods. This was to be a dignified and formal ceremony and it was obvious the organizers had planned out every step of the next hour.
The three Raiders listen to the speakers.
The crowd listens intently.
Speeches were made by some Air Force officials, a Vice-President of Hennesey USA, the make of the cognac to be used for the toast, and a very good speech by C.V. Glines, the official historian of the Doolittle Raiders. He is considered to be a honorary member of the group, going back to the 1950s. Mr. Glines called the roll of all 80 Raiders, with the three in attendance shouting "Here!" when their name was called. Hearing all those names, knowing some had died in the raid, and hearing only three in attendance put a lump in my throat.
The goblets and bottle of cognac. Each goblet is engraved with one of the 80 Raiders' names and is turned upside down when they pass away.
Then the toast itself. Its worth watching the video linked below to see it. (Jump ahead to about the 48-minute mark.) Colonel Cole, Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot on the raid, opened the 1896 bottle of cognac that had been held by the group since the 50's for just this occasion. A brief word by Cole, a sip, and that was it, followed by a long round of applause that had palpable sincerity by everybody in attendance.
Video of the full ceremony is
HERE.
We stuck around for some final pictures, Dan went off to interview the acting Secretary of the Air Force and I just sat in the museum and took it all in. It was quite a feeling.
The next morning, we took off from Dayton and paid dearly for our tail wind the day before. It took nearly four hours to go the 300 miles home. It was a quiet trip as I think we were both lost in our thoughts of the previous day. I felt very privileged to be a part of it.
Pat Weeden, EAA Chapter 431
...and if you're bored, you can watch the video of our flight to Dayton HERE.
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