Wings Over Houston 2009 - Doolittle Raiders

Today the Kuritza and Frye men spent the day at the 25th Wings Over Houston Airshow. We had the honor of meeting many heros that fought for our country. The gentleman in the blue sweater is Lt. Richard Cole. Lt. Cole was Col. James Doolittles co-pilot when they were the first of 16 B-25 Mitchells that took off from the USS Hornet to bomb Japan. None of the 16 planes made it back. Lt. Cole bailed out of the B-25 with the rest of the flight crew above China at 9000 feet after the fuel indicator lights came on. They suspected in advance they would not have enough fuel to make it to the intended friendly Chinese airfield. The man in the yellow sweater is Tom Griffin. Mr. Griffin was also a Doolittle Raider. He was navigator on plan #10 "The Whirling Dervish" that flew off the Hornet that day. He also bailed out over China. He also spent some time as a B-25 navigator in North Africa where he was shot down and captured by the Germans and spent 22 months as a POW.

and no - those are not feathers sticking out of my hat....