He was the last of the living Doolittle Raiders.
These men were a special breed of heroes that seem to come along only once in a lifetime and then only in the hour of dire need. What those men in the 16 planes that took of that morning did was not only magnificent, but changed the course of the whole war in the Pacific.
Japan had never thought they could be attacked from across a wide ocean. After the Doolittle Raid, Japan had to pull back carrier and other navel forces to put a secure ring around the home islands, that it left them under manned for the engagement at Midway. Once they lost that, the Japanese never had another victory, and it was all downhill from there.
Dick Cole was the last of a special breed.
These men were a special breed of heroes that seem to come along only once in a lifetime and then only in the hour of dire need. What those men in the 16 planes that took of that morning did was not only magnificent, but changed the course of the whole war in the Pacific.
Japan had never thought they could be attacked from across a wide ocean. After the Doolittle Raid, Japan had to pull back carrier and other navel forces to put a secure ring around the home islands, that it left them under manned for the engagement at Midway. Once they lost that, the Japanese never had another victory, and it was all downhill from there.
Dick Cole was the last of a special breed.