Two Doolittle Raiders passed away this last week....

[Guppy35]

...I didn't see it posted.  The info was passed along on another forum

"We have lost two of the surviving Doolittle Raiders in the past two days, that leaves only nine of the eighty Airmen that were a part of the Raid still living.

Maj Gen Davey M Jones passed away at his home in Tuscon, AZ yesterday 25 November 2008 in the early afternoon. The cause of death is still unknown at present. He was carrying groceries into the Kitchen and fell and hit his head. It was either a heart attack or the blow to his head.

Msgt Ed Horton, Jr. passed away this morning(November 27th) at his home in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. Ed had been in the hospital in FWB but came home last weekend. His was due to natural causes. He had been fighting a number of aliments since his auto wreck about six weeks ago."


Davy Jones was the pilot of plane #5 and was also famous as one of the guys who dug the tunnels in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III.  He was shot down in North Africa and made a POW.

Ed Horton was engineer gunner on plane # 10

[mechanic]

Blow to the head stirs me, seems somehow fitting for a fighter pilot. One ping and lights out.Thats how i would want to die if i lived that long and saw the things he must have seen. Salute to the brave gentlemen, peace at last.

[lyric1]

At the Airforce museum there is a case full of silver goblets & a very old bottle of Henessey as they pass the goblets are turned over. The last two left will drink the bottle. Sad to see them go.

[Kermit de frog]

"In honor of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, the citizens of Tucson, Arizona presented a set of 80 sterling goblets to the Raiders following WW II. In turn, they were presented to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs by General Doolittle on behalf of the surviving members of the Raiders for safekeeping and display between reunions.

The silver goblets are housed in a special glass-enclosed trophy case which is guarded by two Airmen. In addition to the goblets, the case contains a bottle of brandy to be used by the last two remaining Raiders at the last reunion to toast their departed comrades. Many of the goblets are already turned upside down for the men who were killed in the raid or who have since died.

At each reunion, the Raiders hold a brief ceremony to honor those who have passed away. This emotional remembrance often marks the passing of additional Raiders during the year since the last reunion.

Each goblet is inscribed twice with a Raider name - both right-side up & upside-down - so that the names are always readable."

<S> Maj Gen Davey M Jones
<S> Msgt Ed Horton, Jr.

April 18, 1942, a day we will never forget.

 

[betty]

here is a pic kermit and i took in dayton at the wright patterson airforce museum...

<<S>> doolittle raiders!

[croduh]

It is nice to see how many people remember their airmen in ww2 in USA.
Where I live, out of 1000 people, 999 couldn't name not one of many aces we had (regardless what side they flew on).Hell, they wouldn't even know we had any airmen.

<S>

[zoozoo]

 

[skribetm]

I've always admired the courage of these men. 

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

 

[SuBWaYCH]

 

[007Rusty]

 

[Yossarian]

 , prayers sent

[Amsoil21]

 

[Spikes]

, hopefully as the years go on in this country and world, these events will never be forgotten.

[aenigma]

 

God Speed Men, You will not be forgotten.