Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:43 am
wacoykc wrote:My father was classmates with about 6 of the Doolittle Raiders at Kelly Field in 1941. I have the class photo (which is about 3 ft x 1ft) hanging in our upstairs hallway. I remember 3 of the names...Richard Knobloch, Jack Simms and Dick Cole. We just spoke to Dick Cole last week about my father and his remembrances of him. I was also just given a painting that is of Tom Griffin's B-25 from the cockpit looking forward out the HORNET's deck with another B-25 lifting off. All the instruments are reading exactly what they should be at takeoff power! Pretty neat! I also was privvy to a cocktail party at Wright-Patterson when the Doolittle Raiders came to donate their cups to the Museum. There were 8 Raiders present as well as a Chinese gentleman who had helped one of the crews escape. There were only maybe 40 people at this event and I got to speak with each of them at length and had all of them sign a B-25 print for me. The best part was when I went to introduce myself to Dick Cole. I took my fathers graduation notice as well as his Air Corps ID. I handed Dick the graduation announcement and he asked "where the heck did you get this?" I then handed him my fathers ID and a smile came over his face and he exclaimed "Eddie Heins....what a great guy!" It actually brought a tear to my eye! That was truly the ice-breaker and we had a great chat!
wow thats a great story! Cool man!
Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:09 am
I'm sorry that I can't pin-point the year, they all tend to run together after a while, several Raiders and friends went to China to see what they could find of the planes. Hank Potter went to see if he could find anything of his plane (Doolittle's). He told me that the locals took most of the big pieces of skin and beat them into cooking pans.
There was one big piece, which Hank bought from a villager and brought back. The villager thought it was part of a prop, due to the rounded tip. Hank recognized it as Doolittle's seat-back armor plate. It's the only piece that I know of on display in the CenTex Wing's hangar. We have a small Doolittle display in one of the windows of our artifact display area which faces into the hangar. We also have a BIG, hand made model of the Hornet, complete with the B-25's on deck, and some other Doolittle things.
There was one big piece, which Hank bought from a villager and brought back. The villager thought it was part of a prop, due to the rounded tip. Hank recognized it as Doolittle's seat-back armor plate. It's the only piece that I know of on display in the CenTex Wing's hangar. We have a small Doolittle display in one of the windows of our artifact display area which faces into the hangar. We also have a BIG, hand made model of the Hornet, complete with the B-25's on deck, and some other Doolittle things.
Wed Dec 17, 2008 7:37 pm
There are some items that were recovered that are on display at the NMUSAF as well. Some small equipment was recovered from Doolittles plane and is now inside the one in our collectionas well as some sheet metal that was presented to the museum from China.