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The 70th
Doolittle Raiders Reunion
will be at the
National Museum of the US Air Force
Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio
April 17-20, 2012
Click
Here for a Flier!
Tickets go on sale to the Public on February
15, 2012
Tuesday,
April 17
7:30 a.m. -- B-25 arrival (weather dependent; visitors can watch from
the museum grounds)
10 a.m.-6 p.m. -- B-25 static display on the runway behind the museum (weather
dependent)
Wednesday, April 18
9:30 a.m. -- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo film showing in the museum's
Carney Auditorium
1:30-3 p.m. -- Memorial service with B-25 flyover in the museum's Memorial Park
(weather dependent)
Thursday, April 19
Noon ($) -- Luncheon with Doolittle Raiders at Hope Hotel and Richard C.
Holbrooke Conference Center (Note: Lunch attendees have first opportunity to get
autographs)
2-4 p.m. -- Autograph session at Hope Hotel and Richard C. Holbrooke Conference
Center (limit one item per person)
6-10 p.m. ($) -- Banquet with Doolittle Raiders at the museum
Friday, April 20
10-11:15a.m. -- Education program with the Doolittle Raiders (advance
registration required)
11:30 a.m. ($) -- Luncheon with Doolittle Raiders at Hope Hotel and Richard C.
Holbrooke Conference Center
2-4 p.m. -- Autograph session at the museum (limit one item per person)
($) Cost to attend. Tickets available for purchase on Feb. 15.
Event schedule subject to change.
All five of the
living Doolittle Raiders are able to travel and plan to be on hand for the
reunion events at this time.
Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole
Co-pilot of No. 1
Maj. Thomas C. Griffin
Navigator on No. 9
Lt. Col. Robert L. Hite
Co-pilot of No. 16
Lt. Col. Edward J. Saylor
Engineer-Gunner of No. 15
Master Sgt. David J. Thatcher
Engineer-Gunner of No. 7
2/1/2012 - DAYTON,
Ohio -- A limited number of tickets to a banquet and two luncheons honoring
the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders during their 2012 reunion will go on sale to the
public on Feb. 15 at 9 a.m.
These special activities are part of the events planned as the Raiders
commemorate the 70th anniversary of their raid on Japan during a reunion April
17-20 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
The banquet, which will be held on April 19 at the museum, will begin with
cocktails at 6 p.m. and seating for dinner at 7 p.m. The cost is $70 per ticket.
Both luncheons will take place at the Hope Hotel and Richard C. Holbrooke
Conference Center. The cost is $35 per ticket for the luncheon on April 19 and
$30 per ticket on April 20. (Note: Lunch attendees on April 19 will have the
first opportunity to get autographs).
Those interested in purchasing tickets must obtain an order form. Order forms
will be available starting Feb. 15 online at
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/doolittle.asp by phone at
(937) 904-9881 or in person at the museum's information desk. Order forms must
then be returned with payment by check or credit card (Discover, MasterCard or
Visa) to the museum's Special Events Division and will be processed in the order
that they are received. For those paying by credit card, tickets can be
purchased directly online (without submitting a paper order form). All who
purchase tickets will receive them by mail.
Other public events during the reunion include two autograph sessions, a
memorial service and B-25 flyover. In addition, the film Thirty Seconds Over
Tokyo will be shown in the museum's Carney Auditorium on April 18. The full
reunion schedule, including event times, is available at
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/doolittle.asp
At this time, all five of the living Doolittle Tokyo Raiders - Lt. Col. Richard
E. Cole; Lt. Col. Robert L. Hite; Lt. Col. Edward J. Saylor; Maj. Thomas C.
Griffin and Master Sgt. David J. Thatcher - are able to travel and plan to be
on-hand for the reunion events. Others scheduled to attend the reunion include
retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Allen Josey, who was an electrician on the
aircraft carrier Hornet when the Raiders took off on their mission, and Hu
Dixian of Zhejiang, China. Dixian is the daughter of Liu Li Senlin, who aided
Doolittle Tokyo Raider crew number two.
As a special tribute to the Raiders during the reunion, the Doolittle Tokyo
Raiders Association, Inc. is working to secure enough sponsorship funding to fly
in and land 25 B-25 Mitchell bombers on the runway behind the museum. If their
efforts are successful, this aviation event would be the largest gathering of
B-25s since World War II. Those interested in helping to make this flight of
B-25 bombers possible should contact Tom Casey with the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders
Association, Inc. at (941) 921-7361 or by email at:
tomcat911@comcast.net or
Larry Kelley at (410) 991-2356 or by email at:
b25driver@aol.com (Federal
endorsement is not implied.)
Reunion activities will give the public the opportunity to celebrate these World
War II aviation heroes. On April 18, 1942, these 80 men achieved the
unimaginable when they took off from an aircraft carrier on a top secret
mission. Led by Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle, these men came to be known
as the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders.
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is located on Springfield
Street, six miles northeast of downtown Dayton. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
seven days a week (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day). Admission
and parking are free.
NOTE TO PUBLIC: For more information, contact the
National Museum of the U.S.
Air Force at (937) 904-9881.
The following
information pertains to last years 69th Doolittle Reunion
April 2011 in Omaha Nebraska
A great big T H A N K - Y O
U to everyone who attended the 69th reunion in April 2011!
A huge Thank-You to all the fans at Memorial Stadium who greeted the Raiders
with a warm Nebraska Roaring Standing Ovation!
The boys were thoroughly impressed and grateful!
We still have merchandise
available on the website for those of you who were not able to attend!
Contact
Todd Joyce for details!
We still have a very limited
quantity of Challenge Coins still available!
See the
Coin & Pin Page
for details!
 
In Support of the
Strategic Air and Space Museum
Ashland Nebraska
All Five
Remaining
Doolittle Raiders were in attendance in 2011!
All five are planning to also attend the 70th Reunion in April 2012!
Dick Cole
- Co-Pilot Crew 1
Tom Griffin
- Navigator Crew 9
Bob Hite
- Co-Pilot Crew 16
David Thatcher
- Engineer Gunner Crew 7
Ed Saylor
- Engineer Crew 15
C. V. Glines
- Historian & Honorary Raider
Mary Jane Radney
- Widow of Doug Radney, Engineer Gunner on Crew 2
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