I watched a documentary yesterday

[MrPeabody]

about the Minnesota wing of the Commemorative Air Force. They focused on a B25 that they have and the preparations to take it to a reunion of Doolittle's Raiders a few years ago. The last member of that group died last year. He was 103.

They had 17 B25s at the reunion they showed, and I think five of the original Raiders were still living. They interviewed one of them and he told the story of how they got to be volunteers for that mission. He said they posted a call for volunteers on the base bulletin board that said they were looking for 20 B25 crews from the base for a classified mission that would be very dangerous. He said every single man at the base signed up. The actual mission wound up using 16 planes. They weren't told what the target was until the ship they were on left port.

Another interesting fact was about Doolittle himself. We all know him as a daredevil who raced airplanes in the 30s and was a maverick. What most don't know was he had a Doctorate degree from MIT in Aeronautical Engineering. It was the first such degree ever issued. I had the pleasure of meeting him once at an air show in the early 80s.

[Dan Dlabay]

I was at that reunion. When they came into Wright Patterson, they flew over our house. A hell of a sight.

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by Dan Dlabay

I was at that reunion. When they came into Wright Patterson, they flew over our house. A hell of a sight.

Did you catch the show? It was from a PBS series called The Restorers. Excellent series. By the way, they say 70,000 people attended that event. People waited in line for hours to meet the Raiders who were there.

[Olustee bus]

Great story.

[MEANZ06]

The "documentaries" I watch are a little different than that. That's just what I tell my wife they are...

[BADRACR1]

I saw it.

[Grey Ghost]

I have been a military aviation buff for 40 yrs. Especially during my teen years collection WW2 aviation relics. I read every book and watched every movie. We had relatives in deep south TX. and I got to visit The Confederate Air Force (renamed to Commemorative Air Force) in the early '80s. Lots of WW2 people still around in those days. My uncle was a P-38 pilot in the Pacific. He is even mentioned in a dog fight that his squadron was involved in. I sold the majority of my collection, but kept some of the pieces from it. I would go to every air show within 100 miles. We had small airports, so usually free access to the warbirds that were there to perform.

All the Raiders have passed on now. I still remember the details of the book 'Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo' about them and a wartime move based on it with great B-25 footage.

I still wouldn't pass up a good deal on any relics, but they are hard to come by at decent prices anymore. I did splurge on a expensive A-2 flight jacket reproduction that is often seen and was exclusive to pilots and aircrew. Even the Japanese love the American style. One company there had/has jackets in the $1000 range for a reproduction. Authentic to every little detail.

I have a few pieces from the legendary Flying Tigers. Lots of combat strike photos from a B-25 pilot that was a neighbor and gave to me. All from the PTO. You can even see people on the ground with bombs going off near them, on ships, etc...

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by MEANZ06

The "documentaries" I watch are a little different than that. That's just what I tell my wife they are...

When I'm using my laptop late at night with the headphones, I'm "listening to music".