Doolittle Raider's and B-25B Mitchell

They are having a parade and ceremonies this week honoring the Doolittle Raider's Tokyo raid and the few surviving members are here in town (Fort Walton Beach/Destin/Niceville​, FL) to celebrate. I think that there are only 6 of them left alive. They trained locally at what is now Eglin AFB during the month of March 1942 and flew the mission April 18th, 1942. All planes were lost, mostly due to ditching, and of the 80 crew members, 69 made it back to US alive and 3 Killed in action. 8 died as POW's with 3 executed, 4 due to starvation, and 1 due to disease.

here is link to the story. It was the first major blow to the Japanese homeland, though it caused little damage, it showed that the Japanese home islands were not untouchable. It did create major morale boost in the US as well.

http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Doolittle_raid

There are also 3 B-25 Mitchell bombers similar to the ones that they flew off the Carrier USS Hornet actually here and flying those willing to pay $425 a piece. There are long lines to do it. While one flew over my home I took these images of the "Yellow Rose" (I guess it is named after the "Yellow Rose of Texas" since there is a cowgirl on the nose art.

They are VERY LOUD aircraft!

IMAGE LINK: http://s1359.photobuck​et.com …edit_zps2d3b442​b.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s1359.photobuck​et.com …30-2_zps0e7c0ee0.jpg.html

EXCELLENT shots!

PhotosGuy wrote in post #15839357

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tarheeldragon wrote in post #15839383
EXCELLENT shots!

Thanks guys!

There are 4 Raiders left, and this will be their last public reunion
Later this year, they will meet up at an undisclosed, private location and crack open an 1896 bottle of brandy (the year that Doolittle was born) to toast the lives and legacy of Jimmy Doolittle and the Raiders. I would have loved to been there for this celebration of some of our last remaining heroes of the greatest generation ever! Thank you for sharing these amazing images.

Great shots

Both are nice shots. I was at the luncheon. Three of the men made the reunion trip, four still with us. I wanted to get airplane shots but bad weather changed my plans. I will try to get over there this weekend. I can add some Raider shots to this thread you you don't mind.

Old Coot wrote in post #15839864
There are 4 Raiders left, and this will be their last public reunion
Later this year, they will meet up at an undisclosed, private location and crack open an 1896 bottle of brandy (the year that Doolittle was born) to toast the lives and legacy of Jimmy Doolittle and the Raiders. I would have loved to been there for this celebration of some of our last remaining heroes of the greatest generation ever! Thank you for sharing these amazing images.

great info, thanks!

atexasphotog wrote in post #15842734
Great shots

ChunkyDA wrote in post #15847220
Both are nice shots. I was at the luncheon. Three of the men made the reunion trip, four still with us. I wanted to get airplane shots but bad weather changed my plans. I will try to get over there this weekend. I can add some Raider shots to this thread you you don't mind.

thanks guys!

Dave, I would LOVE for you to add them, please do!

#1. Lt Col Dick Cole, CoPilot with Doolittle.
#2. Q&A Session with their historian
They had some white and multi-colored LED lights directly on the Raiders, a spotlight on the historian, and the rest of the front section was dark, only a bit of light from the fluorescent lights from the back half of the room. I used my 580EXII on camera to fill in the front of the room and not overexpose the men and their white hats.

ChunkyDA wrote in post #15849602
#1. Lt Col Dick Cole, CoPilot with Doolittle.
#2. Q&A Session with their historian
They had some white and multi-colored LED lights directly on the Raiders, a spotlight on the historian, and the rest of the front section was dark, only a bit of light from the fluorescent lights from the back half of the room. I used my 580EXII on camera to fill in the front of the room and not overexpose the men and their white hats.

awesome shots!

wow, do they look good for being in their 90's or what...

hope I can look that good at that age

2 of the B-25s at night on the Destin tarmac
First "Special Delivery" is a 5 second exposure and second "Panchito" is .8 sec. Panchito was parked right under the ramp lights while SD was in a dark area.

Cool shots.

ChunkyDA wrote in post #15868230
2 of the B-25s at night on the Destin tarmac
First "Special Delivery" is a 5 second exposure and second "Panchito" is .8 sec. Panchito was parked right under the ramp lights while SD was in a dark area.

awesome shots Dave!

Excellent thread guys.

Jon.