A Final Toast

B-25J and Texans taxi out April 20th, 2013 for Doolittle fly-by. Destin, FL

This weekend up at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, three of the four surviving Doolittle Raiders gathered for one final somber and sad mission.  Robert Hite, the other surviving Raider, was too ill to attend this gathering.  So Ed Saylor, Richard Cole - Doolittle's co-pilot, and David Thatcher gathered at the museum to break open the 1896 bottle of cognac to salute their departed comrades.  Why 1898?  That was the year Jimmy Doolittle was born.  With this solemn action, another chapter of valour closes.

I was so fortunate to see Saylor, Cole, and Thatcher at the 71st Reunion earlier this year.  To shake their hands and say thank you.  Thank you again Raiders for lifting American spirits when it seemed the future was so bleak.

Previous posts:
Army Pilots Man Your Planes!
A Good Shepherd
60+ Years
Doolittle Flyby
Florida Nose Art

Army pilots, man your planes!

Those words galvanized a group of 80 men who found themselves just 600 miles from the Japanese home islands. How they got there and what happened after is an amazing tale on heroism, inventiveness, and intrepidity. It was 70 years ago today, April 18^th, the Doolittle Raid occurred. And the five surviving Raiders are at Wright Patterson and the Museum of the Air Force this week to mark this historic event.

It all started just after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor by a most curious route. Admiral King wanted to know if Army bombers and transports could take off from an aircraft carrier for the invasion of French North Africa. It was the Army Air Force under Gen. Hap Arnold and the energetic Jimmy Doolittle who made the concept King's staff had of using Army bombers from a US Navy aircraft carrier to strike at a target President Roosevelt wanted hit at the earliest moment – Japan feasible.

Once it was determined it was possible, the next step was to make it reality. Soon two B-25 bombers managed to take off from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, a brand spanking new carrier still doing work ups before transfer to the Pacific. The date was Feb. 3, 1942 and those two B-25 crews had no idea what they had accomplished or what would come of it. Secrecy was paramount.

Meanwhile Doolittle was busy getting the Army side of things organized. B-25s needed modification for a host of upgrades including extra fuel tanks to extend range. Again secrecy was important so no one knew why this Lt. Col was re-arranging their war important missions, all they knew was Gen. Hap Arnold fully supported this mad man so they got to it. Crews had to be selected under the same stringent security. The men of the 17^th Bombardment Group and 89^th Reconnaissance Squadron were told it was a dangerous mission, practically everyone volunteered. Twenty four crews were selected for special training down at Eglin field in Florida. Here the crews were exposed to extremely short field take offs in their planes and taught Navy habits by Lt. Miller. Soon the men were launching their planes in as little as 350ft.

As soon as the men and planes were ready, they flew cross country to California to meet up with USS Hornet. Upon landing if they reported any defect in their plane, that plane was pulled to the side. Ted Lawson's plane The Ruptured Duck had problems with its top turret but did not report the problem. So his plane with 15 others were hoisted onto Hornet's flight deck. The other B-25s were left on shore while their crews boarded the aircraft carrier to maintain secrecy and provide replacements in case someone fell ill.

Secrecy was maintained until USS Hornet and its escorts met up with USS Enterprise's task force beyond Hawaii. Once the Navy men learned what the mission was, their treatment of the Army crews changed dramatically. Lawson found himself sleeping in a soft Navy bunk while its former occupant did battle with a folding cot. When the Army crews had an issue on one of their planes, the Navy machine shops and specialists were only too eager to help.

The final plan was to launch the B-25s about 400 statue miles from the Japanese home islands and hit after dark. Those plans changed when an Enterprise scout plane found a picket line of Japanese fishing bots over 600 miles out. As the heavy cruiser USS Northampton started to slam shells into one of these spy ships, a gutsy call was being made aboard Hornet. Doolittle, Mitscher, and Halsey conferred and decided to launch immediately though it meant there was almost no chance the B-25s would arrive in China intact and the attack would be in daylight.

As the crews were called to man their planes, Hornet turned into the wind. Five more tins of gasoline were crammed into each plane in the hope it would help them reach friendly controlled areas in China. Meanwhile the crews themselves loaded up items of vital importance into their planes, guns being one item. Into one plane went a phonograph player while the records were loaded on a different plane.

Jimmy Doolittle then launched in the first B-25. Everyone held their breaths as his plane seem to vanish off the bow of the ship. Then everyone sighed in relief as the plane clawed for air. After one orbit of the carrier to get bearings, Doolittle flew off to hit Tokyo. Soon all the bombers were safely off, every bomber going it alone because of fuel concerns. Then both carrier task groups turned around and raced out of harm's way, their part of the mission done.

Flying at almost wave-top level, each crew saw different things when they reached the Japanese coastline. They saw Japanese fisherman and farmers wave at them as they sped past. The Japanese thought the planes were theirs, anything else was beyond their imagination. It probably help in the confusion the bombers' markings included a red dot in the center of the white star. This is not to say the Japanese military were not expecting an attack, they just expected it to happen as the carriers got closer since carrier planes were short ranged. So the Raiders got the surprise they needed as they struck Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, and Nagoya. Next was the hardest part of the mission, the get away.

On the bombers flew, once again at wave-top level into bad weather, shrinking fuel reserves, and uncertain Chinese airfields. None of the China bound planes would land safely. Some came down in the water while others crashed after exhausting all their fuel. Only the plane that diverted to neutral Vladivostok landed safely, the crew was promptly interned least Japan attack the still neutral USSR. Doolittle thought the raid was a failure as he sat next to the wreckage of his plane. Fate of many of his men was unknown, it would be weeks before all of their fates would be known. Two crews were captured by the Japanese and promptly convicted of trumped up war crime charges, three of these men were then executed by firing squad and another would die of disease before Japan surrendered and the four survivors rescued. Ted Lawson's plane crashed off a small island and four of the crew badly injured. Lawson himself was catapulted out of the cockpit and his left leg ripped up. Only turret gunner David Thatcher was uninjured. Only because of his valiant efforts, of which he was awarded a Silver Star, were the others saved. Then they, like many other crews, were assisted by Chinese civilians to escape and avoid the cruel fate the Japanese would inflict. For helping so many Raiders escape, the Japanese over the next few months launched a brutal reprisal that would murder over 250,000 Chinese civilians.

The raid was far from a failure. It delivered a needed boost to flagging Allied morale. Doolittle was awarded the Medal of Honor for this daring mission and would continue to lead men into combat, this time in the North African and Italian theaters of operation. It shocked the Japanese. The god-emperor could have been injured. One has to wonder if in private Admiral Yamamoto said to himself, I tried to warn the government attacking the US was foolish. Instead the attack so panicked the Japanese military, they green-lighted a plan they had been opposed to. So Yamamoto was told to hurry it up and wipe out those pesky American aircraft carriers before they really did harm the Emperor. So in two months the Battle of Midway would happen. Once the last plane landed, the offensive might of Japan had been effectively blunted with the loss of four carriers and their valuable pilots. In that battle would be Enterprise and Hornet. Hornet would be lost at the Battle of Santa Cruz in October 1942, to the end she was a tough lady as it took American and Japanese destroyer torpedoes to send her to the bottom. Admiral Yamamoto would meet his own end on April 18^th, 1943 when USAAF P-38 Lightnings intercepted his G4M Betty bomber and shot it down killing him. Enterprise would fight through the whole war and then suffer the ignoble fate of being cut up for scrap in 1955.

 Books to read

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, 1943, Random House, Captain Ted Lawson

The Doolittle Raid, 1991, Schiffer Publishing, Carroll V. Glines

Miracle at Midway, 1982, Penguin Books, Gordon W. Prange.

The Big 'E' 1984, Ballantine Books, Cmdr. Edward P. Stafford

Misty One Flies

The Collings Foundation's F-100F Super Sabre from INVERSION on Vimeo.

Col. George 'Bud' Day got to fly F-100F Super Sabre painted up as 391 recently. The HUN joins the Collings Foundation's other jet warbirds - F-4D Phantom II, TA-4J Skyhawk, and UH-1H Huey. Meanwhile the USAF is still holding hostage all the F-105 Thunderchiefs.

H/T - Ace of Spades. More pictures and info on the F-100F can be found here. The plane is a former Danish Air Force plane that had previously flown in the colors of the Thunderbirds.

Daniel Inouye, Sen [HI-D]

Everyone is presently scratching their heads over the race in Hawaii. Inouye leads his challenger by a mere 11% and its two weeks from decision day. Last time these two went head to head, Inouye got 75% of the vote. Perhaps being in the Senate since 1962 has caused many people in Hawai'i to want some change. Long gone are those heady days when a brash young Daniel Inouye declared to his supporters he would willingly give his other arm to defend his country. He has been in office ever since that hare-brained smear levied by Republicans blew up in their faces.

There is no denying Inouye's heroism as part of the fabled 442d Regimental Combat Team. Losing an arm while clearing out a nest of machine gun pits does rank up there in the heroism department. And Inouye was duly recognized by the US Army with the award of a Distinguished Service Cross[DSC].

A whiff of a problem presents itself in 1995 when Sen. Daniel K. Akaka[HI-D], with the assistance of Sen. Sam Nunn[D-GA], introduced an amendment S.AMDT 2100 directing the Secretary of the Army to review the DSC's awarded to Asian-American and Native American-Pacific Islanders to see if they should be upgraded to the Medal of Honor. It was passed by a voice vote so no record exists of who voted for it. Strangely in 1998, the Army records review recommended 21 upgrades. Among those 21 was Sen. Daniel Inouye[HI-D]. So on June 21, 2000, President bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to Daniel Inouye.

Gov. Moonbeam's Traitor

While the navel-gazing fools that surround Jerry Brown try to convince the people of California that Meg Whitman is a witch for being tricked into hiring an illegal, lets take a look at a bit of Jerry Brown's previous tenure as Governor of California. To whit an appointee of his to the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

It seems in 18 months, Edison Miller managed to alienate Republicans along with fellow Democrats as well. Not only was Miller getting into shoving matches with Republicans, he was vehemently attacking the state Democratic Party chairman. When 1980 rolled around, even though the Democratic Party was against him, Miller tried to run for the seat Jerry Brown appointed him to. He got 17% of the vote. Apparently the people of Orange County were tired of the Fonda-Hayden clique of anti-war zealots.

Being a Fonda-Hayden person is nothing strange to Col. Edison Miller, USMC[ret]. You see Miller was a prisoner of the North Vietnamese after his F-4 Phantom II of VMFA-323 was lost on a combat mission due to ground fire. He was imprisoned for more than five years where men such as James Stockdale, John McCain, Everett Alvarez, Howie Rutledge, and Bud Day would encounter him and his actions.

Miller denies ever ratting out on his fellow prisoners but admits to making broadcasts for the communist Vietnamese. These broadcasts came to be known as the Bob and Ed Show, named after Robert Schweitzer and Edison Miller who made them. As for ratting out prisoners, Everett Alvarez in his memoirs of being Shoot-down Number One Chained Eagle tells things differently. Alvarez recounts incidents of Miller ratting out prisoners to the guards as they tried to communicate with other prisoners. He also tells when Miller and another rat would deliberately close the gates between compounds to again prevent prisoners from talking to each other. McCain recounts trying to just say hi to Miller and the other rat, for that guards were called and McCain was beaten. Adm. James Stockdale tried to get Miller court-martialed but the then Secretary of Defense Laird said there would be no court-martial for returning prisoners of war, hence Miller retired honorably from the Marine Corps as a Colonel.

The POWs' anger over Miller came to a boil when the POWs were invited to a dinner at the White House by President Richard Nixon. During their captivity, Miller and the other rats were kept separate from the other POWs. In fact the anger was so great there was even a plot to kill one of the rats, but the SRO squashed any vigilante justice. Back to that dinner at the White House, the rats got invited also which naturally lead to some 'tense' moments like Howie Rutledge trying to bodily shove Edison Miller out the window of a bus on the way to the White House.

About the only good thing to say of Miller when asked who would he vote for in 2008, he thought George Bush was an idiot and did not feel comfortable with Barack Obama. Then he goes off the rails and voices support for Ron Paul.

If Meg Whitman's decision to hire a maid, that turned out to be an illegal who lied about her immigration status, should disqualify her from being Governor, then Jerry Brown should not be Governor either for a greater reason - Edison Miller traitor.

A Hero Honored

When many people think of a hero, they think of the likes of the already mortally wounded Sgt Rafael Peralta falling on a grenade to save his men in Fallujah. Or an oversized teenage boy named Lucas who fell on two grenades at a place called Iwo Jima and lived. Both of these men were United States Marines.

Well here is the story another hero who happened to be a Marine, though that service was far in the past. Ray Vivier would serve his time in the Corps Stateside and then muster out. He would marry, have five children, build a career, and lose it all due to alcoholism. Then in the evening of his life he would start to rebuild his life while living under a bridge in Cleveland. Which lead to him living in a boarding house and earning a living as a welder. It was at the boarding house it seems the Marine Corps tradition of leaving no one behind kicked in once again. As a fire set by arsonists raged through the boarding house, Ray would personally rescue five people before the fire claimed him as a victim. Recently Ray Vivier's ashses were interred at Arlington; on hand was his ex-wife and his oldest daughter who placed his urn as the rifles barked their own salute twenty-one times. Rest in peace Marine for now your posting is in Heaven.

What is History?

If you are Google, December 7th was just another day. Now December 8th got them excited so they changed their home-page image to celebrate the birthday of the creator of Popeye the Sailor.

What a travesty and a joke when you have real sailors like Lt. John William Finn who earned the Medal of Honor on December 7, 1941 at a place called Pearl Harbor. How sharper than a serpent's tooth is Google's collective ingratitude.

A Saint in Hell

There come stories at the right time to lift you up and make you feel great to be a human being. Even in the darkest times when men act like beasts, there are greater men who dare to stand up and say no to becoming beasts. Even if such defiance might cost them their lives. Here is one such story.

To look at 79-year old Ted Rubin nowadays, one would come face to face with a slight soft-spoken man with earthy wit and graying hair. Beneath this unassuming façade, beats the heart and soul of a heroic and just man. He has personally suffered evil and deprivation, but still remains a good man that you would be honored to talk with even if you did not know his story. And what a story it is.

Tibor Rubin was born in the country of Hungary on a shetl in 1929. At the age of 13, Tibor was swept up in a maniac’s hatred along with his whole family. At Mauthausen Camp in Austria, an SS officer told Rubin and the other inmates this, “You, Jews, none of you will ever make it out of here alive.” For Rubin’s family that proved true as Tibor lost his parents and his sister before American soldiers liberated the concentration camp in 1945. Those soldiers thoroughly impressed a young Tibor, even when survivors were clothed in rags and looking like living skeletons those soldiers took care of them. To such an extent this impressed Tibor that he vowed he would emigrate to the United States and become a citizen and serve in the military that saved him. Three years later Tibor made it to the United States and enlisted as soon as he mastered enough English.

So on June 25, 1950, a young Tibor ‘Ted’ Rubin found himself assigned to a US Army unit based in Okinawa. As the North Koreans steamrolled through South Korea, Rubin’s unit was called up. Rubin’s commander told him since he was not a citizen, he could be posted somewhere like Japan. Showing the courage that would earn Ted much respect in the future, Rubin refused and elected to go to Korea to fight with his buddies. His wish was granted and soon Ted and his buddies found themselves fighting the North Koreans and pulling back to the Pusan Perimeter.

During the dark early days of the Korean War, it seemed all the news was bad as American and South Korean forces were pushed further and further south until all that was held of the Korean peninsula centered on the city of Pusan. The 8th Cav was one of those units fighting that bitter with-drawl, the 8th was also Rubin’s unit.

At one point, to cover the with-drawl of his battalion Ted Rubin was ordered to hold a hill against the enemy alone. Not only did Ted hold that position for 24 hours, he killed a multitude of the enemy. "I figured I was a goner. But I ran from one foxhole to the next, throwing hand grenades so the North Koreans would think they were fighting more than one person." That courageous stand by Rubin earned him his first nomination for the Medal of Honor but the paperwork got lost and then during the course of the Korean War many who wrote recommendations were killed. But Ted Rubin was not out of the hero business after this event, in fact his greatest feat of being a true human being was just ahead.

"The whole mountain let loose," said Rubin. 3rd Bn of the 8th Cav found itself surrounded by the Chinese and being attacked from all sides at Unsan. Soon there was only one machine gun left to the defenders and three men had already died manning it. So Rubin steped up and manned the machine gun to keep fighting and protect his friends. Soon the unit is over-run and a wounded Rubin is then herded with the other POWs north to a place that would be called “Death Valley.”

During the following years, Tibor ‘Ted’ Rubin waged a war to keep his fellow prisoners alive. Drawing upon what he learned at Mauthausen, he proceeded to teach other prisoners survival skills like making soup from grass. He would also remind them of what they had waiting for them at home, family and friends. As Rubin knew from personal experience, hope is one of the greatest weapons to stave off surrendering to despair and its handmaiden death. And then to top all of the crazy things Rubin was already doing that risked certain death, Ted took to stealing food from the guards’ garden and giving the looted food to others. Some estimate, by his various acts, Rubin was responsible for saving at least 40 people in the prison camps he was in.

Then suddenly the very hot Korean War was over with an Armistice signed between the belligerent parties. And Ted found himself repatriated back to the United States in the first prisoner swap. Ted settled down in New York, became a citizen, married, and proceeded to raise two children. Thoughts of medals and his heroism in Korea became memories as none of the paperwork for the four Medal of Honor recommendations reached where it needed to be for action.

There the whole story would lay except for a piece of legislation directing the Dept. of Defense to review its records for any possible Medal of Honor candidates that had been missed. One of those candidates was Tibor ‘Ted’ Rubin. On Sept. 23, 2005, President George W. Bush presented to Rubin the Medal of Honor on behalf of a grateful nation.

Today, we remember the mother, father and sister that Corporal Rubin lost to an unspeakable evil. We admire the determination of a young man who sought to repay
his American liberators by following in their footsteps, and we recall the selfless acts that gave his comrades strength and hope in their darkest hours.

In the years since Abraham Lincoln signed into law the bill establishing the Medal of Honor, we have had many eloquent tributes to what this medal represents. I like Ted's description. He calls it "the highest honor of the best country in the world." And today, a grateful America bestows this award on a true son of liberty.

Credible Threats?

While we celebrate the commissioning of DDG-109 USS Jason Dunham named in honor of a Marine Corps Medal of Honor winner, lets take a look at the global naval stage.

The People's Republic of China is building up its naval forces which will make its dominance on the seas around Taiwan even more pronounced. In contrast, the US Navy ship strength is continuing to shrink to less than 300 ships to cover the seven seas.

US Northern Command has confirmed two Russian nuclear submarines have patrolled off the US East Coast in international waters recently. Submarine strength in the US Navy is very slowly shifting to the Virginia class of fast attack submarines, but it seems total number of subs is shrinking as Congress barely keeps funding for one or two boats a year.

Luckily the Americna ally of India is busily expanding the size of its fleet. It presently has 120 ships which makes it the fifth largest navy in the world. To ensure the continued dominance of the Indian Navy, they are laying the foundation to add another 100 ships to their fleet. They have even built a nuclear submarine based off a Russian design.

With continued US dependence upon open sea lanes for material and finished products, to allow the US naval strength to wither further borders on criminal negligence. The US Navy once had 9 CVs, 8 CVLs, 5 BBs, 14 CAs, and 58 DDs assigned to Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet and 6 BBs, 11 CAs, 18 CVEs, 86 DDs, and 25 DEs in Admiral Kincaid's Seventh Fleet for the invasion of Leyte or 240 fighting ships. Soon the modern US Navy's total strength will barely exceed what the United States committed to just one invasion.

And before someone pops off with, the modern ships are more powerful; stop for a moment and think. A ship can still only be in one spot at a time and the area of force projection for a carrier battle group is not that much greater than it was in WWII. This backslide in total strength must be stopped or our competitors/advesaries will readjust their calculations and decide the US Navy can be defeated and their grand designs fulfilled. Do we need the lesson of Pearl Harbor taught again?

Veterans' Day

American Military Cemetery, Luxembourg

How Proud and Humble I Am

In the East Room of the White House, President George Bush presented the Medal of Honor to retired Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall.

"In men like Bruce Crandall, we really see the best of America," Bush said. "He
and his fellow soldiers were brave, brave folks. They were as noble and selfless
as any who have worn our nation's uniform."
Crandall, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who lives in Manchester, Wash., wore a uniform and a black cavalry Stetson, the trademark of those who served in the 7th Cavalry, in his case the air cavalry.

If anyone has read the book We Were Soldiers Once... And Young or the movie starring Mel Gibson, then you know most of the story. Crandall flew in three different UH-1 Hueys during those desperate hours to keep the men of the 7th Cav supplied and evacuate the wounded. Why three? Because they kept getting shot up by the North VietNamese.

What makes me truly proud there are men like Crandall is later in the story. Lt. Marm had already won the Medal of Honor in 1967 for his daring flying into the Ia Drang Valley to support the 7th Cav. In 2001, after Congress dropped the two year time limit to award the Medal of Honor, another Huey pilot at Ia Drang received the Medal. That was Capt. Ed Freeman. Crandall withdrew his application for the Medal so that Freeman could receive it. Crandall did not think one battle should provide three Medals of Honor. Well I guess others felt differently so now 74 year old Bruce Crandall wears the Medal of Honor. Bruce Crandall is a true hero in all the best ways.