(Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle was the pilot and Lt. Richard Cole, who now lives near Comfort, was the co-pilot of the lead plane on the Tokyo bombing mission early in World War II.) (U.S. Air Force photo)
Doolittle Raiders look back on mission
By Sig Christenson - Express NewsIt was America's fifth month in World War II, and the news everywhere was bad. Germany ruled Europe, and Japan was on the march in the Pacific.
Reeling from a string of defeats, America needed a quick victory, and a one-time flyweight boxer-turned-test pilot, Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, was about to give it to them in a spectacular way.
“I don't think it was revenge,” said Dick Cole, who helped fly the first B-25B off the deck of the USS Hornet. “It was just tit for tat, I guess.”
