B-25 Mitchells in Urbana Ohio to honor Doolittle Raiders

On Thursday, April 15, the family and I visited Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio to see how many B-25 Mitchell bombers had flown in and gathered to prepare for today's scheduled formation flyover in Dayton (at the United States Air Force Museum) to honor the presence of the surviving Doolittle Raiders at the organization's annual reunion.

The word on the street is that it very well may be the final reunion for the exclusive group of men who on April 18, 1942 performed a daring, never before attempted carrier launch from the U.S.S. Hornet in a medium-sized bomber full of fuel and bombs, led by a world-renowned aviation pioneer -- and flew unprotected to Tokyo to bomb a number of military targets and then crashland in China in hopes of escaping Japanese ground troops before being caught. The plan, which was part PR, part retaliation for Pearl Harbor, and part show of force, miraculously worked, albeit the damage was little. Colonel Doolittle and his men helped us get our point across, no doubt, and it was a heroic feat. Unfortunately, some were captured and beheaded by the Japanese -- a common practice by the sword wielding Japs that you will never see nor hear of on Hanks and Spielberg's - HBO's The Pacific. Nevertheless, check out the video of the B-25's at Grimes. They were a beautiful sight!