Sadly, the survivors stopped having yearly meetings 3 years ago, but its still a cool deal they do.
Those not familiar with the raid should really read up on it if you have any interest in the comings and goings of WWII.
Doolittle raid came on the heels of 4 months of Japan running roughshod in the Pacific...Mandalay, Hong Kong, Singapore, Pearl Harbor, Java Sea naval battle, cornering American/Philippine forces on Bataan. It was militarily insignificant in and of itself, however the ramifications of the raid were magnitudes of significance greater.
The Doolittle Raid was directly responsible for Japan's thirst to score more easterly Pacific islands as early detection of US activities and for jumping off points on attacks on Hawaii and North American West Coast, and they targeted Midway Island. Japanese Military had promised the government and the populace that Japan mainland was impervious to attack due to its many island bases in the Mariana, Marshall, Gilbert and Caroline Islands in the Pacific as well as Indochina, Philippines, Indonesia/Malaysia and Solomon Islands, and after raid, it had egg all over its face.
It was the Doolittle raid coupled with Coral Sea naval draw a couple weeks later in May, coupled with Battle of Midway a month later that gave United States the ability to land on Guadalcanal in August, which ultimately ended up solidifying 1942 as the turning point in the Pacific War (far from certain at the time)
How Midway came to be is something else altogether fascinating too, but that is a topic for another thread...
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/04/18/doolittle-raiders-hold-final-reunion.html
Those not familiar with the raid should really read up on it if you have any interest in the comings and goings of WWII.
Doolittle raid came on the heels of 4 months of Japan running roughshod in the Pacific...Mandalay, Hong Kong, Singapore, Pearl Harbor, Java Sea naval battle, cornering American/Philippine forces on Bataan. It was militarily insignificant in and of itself, however the ramifications of the raid were magnitudes of significance greater.
The Doolittle Raid was directly responsible for Japan's thirst to score more easterly Pacific islands as early detection of US activities and for jumping off points on attacks on Hawaii and North American West Coast, and they targeted Midway Island. Japanese Military had promised the government and the populace that Japan mainland was impervious to attack due to its many island bases in the Mariana, Marshall, Gilbert and Caroline Islands in the Pacific as well as Indochina, Philippines, Indonesia/Malaysia and Solomon Islands, and after raid, it had egg all over its face.
It was the Doolittle raid coupled with Coral Sea naval draw a couple weeks later in May, coupled with Battle of Midway a month later that gave United States the ability to land on Guadalcanal in August, which ultimately ended up solidifying 1942 as the turning point in the Pacific War (far from certain at the time)
How Midway came to be is something else altogether fascinating too, but that is a topic for another thread...
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/04/18/doolittle-raiders-hold-final-reunion.html
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