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JBSA News
NEWS | Feb. 6, 2017

Last surviving member of Doolittle’s Raiders shares his story

By Jeremy Gerlach 502nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

For retired Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Cole, the last surviving member of Doolittle’s Raiders, the stories he tells still flow easily at 102 years of age.

 

Cole, San Antonio resident, stopped by Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Feb. 1 to pre-record an interview where he discusses several of his life’s tales, to include his participation in the Doolittle Raid, the framed raid aimed at attacking the capital city of Tokyo, Japan in retaliation for its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. His interview is scheduled to be played later this year at the 75th anniversary celebration event for the 310th Space Wing, based out of Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. whose heritage dates back to the Doolittle Raiders.

 

While at JBSA-Lackland Cole used the opportunity to tour the parade grounds and surrounding area and speak with visiting Col. Michael Assid from the Air Force Space Command 310th Space Wing, the modern-day successor to Cole’s former unit, 310th Bombardment Group. 

 

As many times Cole tells the story of the Doolittle Raid, where the U.S. launched 16 B-25 Mitchells on a one-way ticket to Tokyo with just enough fuel to bomb the Japanese and make crash landings in China and the Soviet Union, he still presents the tale with a modest perspective.

 

“I don’t think of what we did as being courageous,” Cole chuckled. “I think we were just doing our jobs – and doing your job is better than level (work) – that’s an easy answer.”

 

Before he was crossing the Pacific, landing in China and escaping to British-held India, Cole was just a teenager making 25 cents an hour pulling targets at a local shotgun range in Dayton, Ohio.

 

While riding his bike home one day, Cole caught sight of his first aircraft: a B-17 Flying Fortress heading to nearby McCook Army Airfield, Neb. After learning more about aircraft engines and maintenance, Cole fell in love with aviation and enlisted in the Army Air Corps in1940. After completing basic training, he was commissioned as a pilot in July 1941, just five months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

After the attack, the race was on for the United States to develop a plan for retaliation.

 

“We were on leave in California at the Hollywood Hotel, but (the Army) snatched us up,” Cole recalled. “We had to put together those planes as fast as we could.”

 

That’s when Cole met Doolittle, the architect of the planned raid on Tokyo. Cole ended up as Doolittle’s co-pilot, taking flight in the lead plane off the USS Hornet, one of two aircraft carriers assigned to the hit-and-run mission.

 

Cole still has a high opinion of Doolittle’s flying skills, even to this day.

 

“Doolittle was the golden boy, even before (contemporary pilot) Charles Lindbergh, as far as I am concerned,” said Cole, grinning.

 

Doolittle, like Cole, had been a test pilot for some of the latest and greatest craft the U.S. Army Air Corps was developing at the time. But for Cole – along with the 79 other personnel assigned to the mission – strapping into a B-25 was a noted difference from his previous experience with less advanced craft like his first love, the B-17.

 

“It was like going from a model-T to a Ford Mustang,” Cole said.

 

Cole’s ride across Asia wasn’t quite as luxurious. Rather than crash landing in China, his plane ended up short on fuel, forcing the crew to bail out with parachutes. After landing in a tree and sleeping there for a night, the crew regrouped and headed west to British-held India, where they managed to hitch rides back to American forces.

 

Cole continued to fight in several other air campaigns in Southeast Asia and North Africa during the war, but none ended up being as famous as his raid over Tokyo, for which he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. Doolittle, commander of the raid, earned the Medal of Honor.

 

While Cole’s involvement in the Doolittle Raid didn’t serve a major strategic purpose, it certainly served a psychological one.

 

“There was a sense of accomplishment to what we did,” Cole explained. “It gave the Japanese the idea that we were going to be knocking on the door again … and it evened up the score (after Pearl Harbor).”

 

Cole’s daughter, Linda, said her father is typically booked for speaking events each month, and doesn’t plan on slowing down.

 

“General Doolittle was such a good leader … so dad does this in honor of General Doolittle,” Cole said “Since dad’s the last Doolittle Raider, it’s all left on dad’s shoulders to tell the story (of the raid) now.”

 

After listening to Cole’s story, Assid said he was grateful to meet Cole in person.

 

“The Doolittle Raiders were heroes,” Assid said. “Now that Cole is the last one left, it’s an honor to hear his story… and it’s great that he’s still telling it.”

 

Those interested in reading about more of Cole’s stories can pick up a copy of his book, called “Dick Cole’s War: Doolittle Raider, Hump Pilot, Air Commando,” online or at local bookstores.

 

Proceeds from the book go towards a memorial fund for General Doolittle and the raiders.