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        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.131109-F-QE915-438
                        
                        
                        The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.
                
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        Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody, left, Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III speak to The Doolittle Raiders after their final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.131110-F-QE915-767
                        
                        
                        Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody, left, Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III speak to The Doolittle Raiders after their final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.
                
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        Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III took the podium before The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.131109-F-QE915-461
                        
                        
                        Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III took the podium before The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.
                
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        Retired Col. Carroll "C.V" Glines took the podium before The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Glines is the historian for the Doolittle Raiders and a distinguished author.131109-F-QE915-515
                        
                        
                        Retired Col. Carroll "C.V" Glines took the podium before The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Glines is the historian for the Doolittle Raiders and a distinguished author.
                
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        Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole give the last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Cole was the copilot of Aircraft No. 1.131110-F-QE915-675
                        
                        
                        Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole give the last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Cole was the copilot of Aircraft No. 1.
                
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        Air Force Academy cadets hand out a goblet to each Raider with their name on it during The Doolittle Raiders final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.131110-F-QE915-654
                        
                        
                        Air Force Academy cadets hand out a goblet to each Raider with their name on it during The Doolittle Raiders final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.
                
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        Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III clap their hands after retired Lt. Col. Richard Cole opens the 1896 bottle of cognac during The Doolittle Raiders final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Cole was the copilot of Aircraft No. 1.131110-F-QE915-624
                        
                        
                        Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III clap their hands after retired Lt. Col. Richard Cole opens the 1896 bottle of cognac during The Doolittle Raiders final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Cole was the copilot of Aircraft No. 1.
                
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        Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole opens the 1896 bottle of cognac before The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Cole was the copilot of Aircraft No. 1.131110-F-QE915-585
                        
                        
                        Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole opens the 1896 bottle of cognac before The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Cole was the copilot of Aircraft No. 1.
                
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        Retired Col. Carroll "C.V" Glines took the podium before The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Glines is the historian for the Doolittle Raiders and a distinguished author.131109-F-QE915-525
                        
                        
                        Retired Col. Carroll "C.V" Glines took the podium before The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Glines is the historian for the Doolittle Raiders and a distinguished author.
                
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        Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole sips from his goblet after giving the last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Cole was the copilot of Aircraft No. 1.131110-F-QE915-683
                        
                        
                        Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole sips from his goblet after giving the last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio. Cole was the copilot of Aircraft No. 1.
                
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        The 80 silver goblets in the ceremony were presented to the Raiders in 1959 by the city of Tucson, Ariz. The Raiders' names are engraved twice, the second upside-down. During the ceremony, white-gloved cadets pour cognac into the participants' goblets. Those of the deceased are turned upside-down.131110-F-QE915-763
                        
                        
                        The 80 silver goblets in the ceremony were presented to the Raiders in 1959 by the city of Tucson, Ariz. The Raiders' names are engraved twice, the second upside-down. During the ceremony, white-gloved cadets pour cognac into the participants' goblets. Those of the deceased are turned upside-down.
                
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        The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders after sharing their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.131110-F-QE915-901
                        
                        
                        The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders after sharing their last and final toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 09, 2013 in Dayton, Ohio.
                
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Doolittle Raiders honored with ‘final toast’Published Nov. 10, 2013
                    
                    By Desiree N. Palacios
                    
                    
                    Air Force News Service
            **WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) --**The Air Force hosted the famed Doolittle Tokyo Raiders' final toast to their fallen comrades during an invitation-only ceremony Nov. 9 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
“Tonight is a night of conflicting emotions: pride in our Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, sorrow at the end of a mission and a myriad of other emotions,” retired Maj. Lloyd Bryant, the Master of Ceremonies, said as he opened the ceremony. 
On April 18, 1942, 80 men achieved the unimaginable when they took off from an aircraft carrier on a top secret mission to bomb Japan. These men, led by Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle, came to be known as the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders.
The ceremony was attended by three of the four living Doolittle Tokyo Raiders: retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole, the copilot of Aircraft No. 1; Lt. Col. Edward J. Saylor, the engineer-gunner of Aircraft No. 7; and Staff Sgt. David J. Thatcher, the engineer-gunner of Aircraft No. 7. The fourth living Doolittle Raider, retired Lt. Col. Robert L. Hite, the copilot of Aircraft No. 16, could not attend the ceremony due to health issues.
“The Doolittle Raiders are the epitome of this innovation spirit of Airmanship. We owe these 80 men as well as their army and navy teammates a debt of gratitude,” said Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning. “Gentlemen, once again, thank you for what you did for your country. 
“Thank you for representing all those you served with and thank you for inspiring all of us everyday since then. Godspeed.”
Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III followed Fanning.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is the greatest professional honor I’ve ever had to speak here with this crowd at this event,” Welsh said.
“The very first book I read as a young guy was Thirty Seconds over Tokyo.  It was given to me by my father, also a World War II vet, with the words that I should read it closely because this is this what America is all about. I’ve never forgotten those words.  
“The Doolittle raiders have been celebrated in book and in journals ... in magazines ... in various papers. They’ve had buildings named after them ... had streets named after them. People play them in movies. 
“They hate to hear this, but Jimmy Doolittle and his Raiders are truly lasting American heroes, but they are also Air Force heroes. They pioneered the concept of global strike ... the idea that no target on earth is safe from American air power. 
“In the last two weeks gentlemen, I’ve received emails from a number of today’s bomber crew members. They asked me to assure you and your families this evening that your legacy is strong and safe with them.
Welsh ended his speech by thanking the Raiders for their service to the nation.
“Sir (Cole), for you and the brothers beside you ... your service was a gift to a nation at war ... the family and friends who stood proudly beside you since and to hundreds of thousands of American Airmen who continue to stand on your shoulders and hope to live to your example. Airpower ... the raiders showed us the way,” he said.
Fanning and Welsh presented the Doolittle Raiders with an Eagle as a token of their appreciation and gratitude.
Cole was then asked to open the 1896 Cognac and give a toast. The year of the bottle of cognac is Doolittle’s birth year. 
“Gentlemen, I propose a toast,” Cole said. “To the gentlemen we lost on the mission and those who have passed away since.
“Thank you very much and may they rest in peace,” he ended.
The 80 silver goblets in the ceremony were presented to the Raiders in 1959 by the city of Tucson, Ariz. The Raiders' names are engraved twice, the second upside-down. During the ceremony, white-gloved cadets poured cognac into the participants' goblets. Those of the deceased were turned upside-down.
The Doolittle Raiders received a standing ovation from the crowd, but before closing the ceremony retired Col. Carroll “C.V” Glines, the historian for the Doolittle Raiders and a distinguished author, said, “This concludes the ceremony and also completes a mission.”Wright-Patterson Air Force Base 



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        Voices of History: The Doolittle Raiders
            
            GENERAL JAMES HAROLD DOOLITTLE
                                April 23, 2003
                                Medal of Honor recipient, pioneering holder of speed records, leader of first aerial attack on the Japanese mainland, and famed World War II air commander.James Harold Doolittle was born in Alameda, Calif., in 1896. James "Jimmy" Doolittle was educated in Nome, Alaska, Los Angeles Junior College,
            
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