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Richard Cole, RIP
The last of the Doolittle Raiders, retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole, has died at age 103.
Cole, originally from Dayton, Ohio, was mission commander Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot in the 1942 bombing attack less than five months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The bold raid on Japan is credited with providing the United States with a morale boost and helping turn the tide of the war in the Pacific.
“I think the main thing was that you had to go in with a positive attitude,” Cole said in September of the against-the-odds mission. “I really didn’t worry about it. It was our job, and we knew what to expect.”
In 2015, the Raiders, including Cole, were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal for their “outstanding heroism, valor, skill and service to the United States.”
Cole parachuted to safety, and he and other Raiders were helped by Chinese partisans. But seven crewmembers died – three were killed during the mission; three others were captured and executed, and one died in captivity.
They were brave men who deserve to be remembered for their daring and dangerous attack on Japan in April 1942.
Published in Military
I liked this post because it is important – not because I like the news it carried.
Memory eternal.
Thanks for mentioning his passing here. I just got in my newsfeed a few minutes ago. RIP Mr. Cole.
Here is an excellent article on his exploits. I wondered whether he got to China or not after the raid. He did. It really was a huge psychological blow to the Japanese and affected their strategy. Ceylon would have been on the chopping block next, but it didn’t happen.
Those guys should never be forgotten.
Made the Japanese much more concerned about our carriers, and started a chain of events that led to the Battle of Midway.
His son-in-law called me yesterday; we are having a memorial service for him at our firehouse hall this weekend. He lived a couple of miles from our fire station and always came by for our events. Totally humble guy who saw and made so much history. Pics are him at the hall with Mrs. Tex for his 102nd birthday party and riding in the engine for the 4th of July parade.
Wow! Thanks for sharing this.
103! Good on him, that alone is an achievement in its own right. But now the real important question is who played him in Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor”.
The local Chamber of Commerce tried for years to get him to be the parade grand marshall. He refused for many years; he always said lots of guys did more than he did and didn’t like being singled out. When he finally accepted he had a great time. This was 5 year ago – at age 98. We packed a little three step stool with us to make it easier for him to board the engine. The front floorboards are almost four feet off of the ground – it’s three big steps up. At the end of the parade route I asked him to wait in the cab of the engine while I found ride home (his daughter). I climbed down and walked to the back of the truck and he was there waiting for me. Fortunately, he didn’t rat me out to his daughter.
God bless him!
Alec Baldwin. And Dick said the real Jimmy Doolittle never cussed like Alec Baldwin’s version.
BTW, truly an awful movie.
This photo always gives me chills.
I wonder if anyone who was on board the Hornet or the Enterprise in April 42 is still alive.
I think of those guys, in their teens and twenties, lurching off that deck in the rain, pretty sure that they wouldn’t make it to their planned landing areas. Dick was in the right seat of that first plane, with the shortest take off distance. There really aren’t words to describe their dedication and bravery. I saw an interview where he said that when they were asked to volunteer, who would say no?
BTW, I’m pretty sure that’s the Yellow Rose of Texas B25 in the background of the original picture. Mrs Tex took a ride in it once when she was flying T38’s at Randolph.
Edit: pic was in the Fox News Article and apparently was changed.
Wow. Never dreamed one of the Raiders would still be alive. RIP and Thank You Lt. Col.
I’m guessing there are a few, but not many. There are now somewhere between 9 and 12 men left from the 316 who survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945. But a lot of the guys on that last sailing were too young to have been in the navy in 1942.
Many years ago there was a Life Magazine group photo of the then living raiders. Maybe 1972, the 30th anniversary? They had a bottle of rare cognac or brandy and there was an engraved silver cup for each of the original raiders. Their pledge was the last survivor would open the bottle and drink a toast to his comrades.
Does anyone remember this? Know what happened?
Fare thee, well, Sir. Now that you have slipped the surly bonds of Earth, may you find peace and your eternal reward in the wild blue yonder.
When it got down to only 4 survivors they decided to open the bottle. The funny part was whoever was running the ceremony wanted the bottle as a historical exhibit and they wouldn’t give it up,
I’m not 100% sure, but I believe the bottle and cups are on display at the Air Force museum at Wright Patterson. I’ll be there next week and check. I know I’ve seen it on display somewhere.
Drink up lads, we’ve a man’s work ahead of us.
(SGT Quincannon in Fort Apache)
My dad made a painting of that day, and it is now in the Smithsonian. Here he is with Jimmy Doolittle and the Raiders in the 1970s at the Smithsonian:
and a print of the painting, signed by all of them:
Nice!
I have an early edition of the book 30 seconds over Tokyo. In the late 1980s I had a friend who’s father-in-law was a general who knew Doolittle, and was going to a meeting of The Caterpillar Club [Members must have bailed out of an
airplane in combatdisabled airplane] where Doolittle was supposed to be attending. I sent the book along hoping to get it signed. Unfortunately Doolittle was unable to attend, but several dozen of the members signed the book, ranging from WWII vets through Viet Nam. Most signed along with the identity of their units and the date they had to jump.At least one of them was in the 100th Bomb Group in England, which happens to be the group that a good friend of my Dad’s was in. He (the friend) was killed in a B-29 crash in 1948, and I’ve “inherited” his memorabilia, including a yearbook-like memoir of the 100th [title “My War Journal”] published immediately after the war. So I’ve even got a picture of the guy who signed the book, even if I never got to meet him.
Nice too! My dad was in the 94th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force.
My late dad, WWII vet, had that print. He was thrilled when he found out we knew Dick.
He did?! Wow!
The program on the Enterprise in WW2 is wonderful. Here’s the episode on Midway. Dusty Kleiss, the last surviving dive bomber pilot from Midway, died at age 100 in 2016.
“A milestone historical event took place on November 9, 2013, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Rather than wait until there were only two Doolittle Tokyo Raiders left to turn over their own goblets as originally planned, the four surviving members decided to complete their mission publicly and make a final toast to their deceased comrades together. They were Lt. Col. Richard E. “Dick” Cole, 98; Lt. Col. Edward J. Saylor, 94; and Staff Sgt. David J. Thatcher, 92. The fourth, Lt. Col. Robert L. Hite, 93, was unable to attend, but viewed the ceremony via Internet at his home in Nashville, Tenn. Outstanding cadets from the Air Force Academy handled the goblets, and the final scene was widely televised and reported.
As the oldest of the four survivors, Dick Cole opened a bottle of cognac, dated 1896, the year of their leader’s birth, which had been stored away for this final occasion. “Gentlemen, I propose a toast to those we lost on the mission and those who have passed away since,” said Cole. “Thank you very much and may they rest in peace.” Saylor and Thatcher sipped from their own goblets as the audience gave them all a standing ovation.”
God bless em.
The first time I went to the Air Force museum this display was half empty. Sad to see it full now.