April 18th of 1942, 16 B-25 bombers crowded onto the deck of the U.S. Hornet, the newest of the aircraft carriers to be put into service and miraculously miss the attack on Pearl Harbor just 4 months and a few days earlier. Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle would lead this group of bombers on a daring mission to retaliate against the Japanese. They were called Doolittle’s Raiders.
The goal was not to inflict massive destruction on the Japanese but it was more to put some doubt into the Japanese military structure that Japan was beyond the reach of military retaliation by the United States of America. In the minds of many military strategists, The Doolittle Raiders changed the landscape of the World War II. Back home in the United States the Doolittle mission brought back hope and built morale in a nation reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war from President Franklin Roosevelt.
Lt. Col. Doolittle was one of the survivors of the April 18th, 1942, mission, and was instrumental in gathering the rest of the survivors for an annual toast to the event. His choice of beverage for the annual toast? 1896 Hennessey Cognac.
In 2019 the last of the Doolittle Raiders, Lt. Cole Richard Cole who was Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot passed away at the age of 103. But the Doolittle Toast, a tribute to those on that mission, has continued. This year from the Air & Space Forces Association headquarters near the Pentagon in Washington DC, the tradition continued.
From the Air & Space Forces Association website: “One day shy of exactly 84 years later, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach toasted the memory of those Raiders—and said their legacy lives on with current Airmen flying missions like Operation Midnight Hammer, the 2025 strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, and the rescue of DUDE 44, the search-and-rescue effort to save two F-15E aviators downed over Iran.
Local AFA Chapters were invited to view a livestream of the event on Friday starting at 4:45 PM CDT. The David C Jones Chapter 135 from Minot was one of the chapters that participated. The location for the toast this year was the Dakota Territory Air Museum. In front of 2 of the museum’s P-51 aircraft, 9 people raised a toast “To Those Who Have Gone.”
For those who were at the Dakota Territory Air Museum, they were treated to some commemorative memorabilia furnished by Warren and Logan Pietsch. There were plaques from the 2012 and 2017 gatherings that celebrated the 70th and 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raiders. An engraved bottle of 1896 Hennessey Cognac was given to Betty’s Dream, a B-25 Bomber that Lt. Col. Richard Cole was able to fly right seat (co-pilot) at the 2012 Doolittle Toast celebration. The engraved bottle was presented to Betty’s Dream at the 75th Anniversary celebration.
The celebration from the AFA headquarters brought light to not only the Doolittle Raid, but recent Air Force events like Midnight Hammer and the most recent rescue of DUDE 44 last month. “This spirit, this courage, this tenacity, the audacity to do something that no one would ever believe you could pull off, is still alive in your Air Force,” shared Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
