Another Veteran is gone…
Major Thomas Griffin, a navigator on the Doolittle Raid was called home Tuesday. He passed in a VA home in northern Kentucky at age 96. At the next reunion of the surviving Doolittle Raiders in Fort Walton Beach, where they trained for the mission, they will turn Maj. Griffin’s goblet upside down, and there will be only four left upright.
Maj. Griffin parachuted to safety over China and eluded capture, eventually making it back stateside. He later flew bombing missions over North Africa until he was shot down in 1943, spending the remainder of the war in a German POW camp.
Years ago the President of Hennessy Company presented a bottle of 1896 vintage “Very Special Hennessy” cognac to General Jimmy Doolittle, in honor of his birth year and it was decided that the last two survivors would toast the fallen with it. Due to their advanced age it was decided that they would make the toast this year, before there were none left.
The private ceremony will be attended only by the surviving Raiders, the Raiders’ historian, Tom Casey, manager of the Doolittle Raiders Association, and two Air Force cadets. They will conduct a roll call of the names of all the Raiders, and when Griffin’s name is called, Lt. Col. Richard Cole, at age 97 the oldest survivor, will give a report on Griffin, announcing that he has left us.
At the end of the reading of names, the white-gloved cadets will pour the cognac into the goblets of the survivors, and they will drink their special toast: “To those who have gone.”
The final four survivors are Lt. Col. Cole of Comfort, Texas; Lt. Col. Robert Hite of Nashville, Tennessee; Lt. Col. Edward Saylor of Puyallup, Washington, and Master Sgt. David Thatcher of Missoula, Montana.
RIP Major, know that you were an example to an entire country and gave America hope!
h/t JP
That was an uplifting post Sir.
Thanks for sharing it.
What a historic fraternity that so few are aware of today.
When I was a kid, everyone was reading 30 Seconds Over Tokyo.
Another Warrior, gone to his final rest.
God bless them all…..
Ted Lawson’s book “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” was the first autobiographical book on WWII that I read (age 11), and I’ve had a life-long love affair with the planes of that war ever since.
Those men were among the bravest of the brave, and paid a terrible price for their actions.
This is a sad report; my laptop must be making it dusty in here…
Ed- You are right
drjim- Amen
Rev- Understood, and I was lucky to actually know and get a chance to talk to “Sally” Crouch. To the end he and the others never thought of themselves as heroes…
Valhalla has another humble warrior at the table.
Hats off and a hoisted pint to the fallen.
BGM
What they did went far beyond the bomb damage. My older relatives have talked about the huge lift it gave to home front morale.
He and the rest of that team were genuine Americans – and they had the ‘right stuff’.
I have a photograph of Doolittle’s Raiders taken in the early 40s, and PERSONALLY SIGNED by the — at that time — six remaining living Raiders.
My ex-GF dropped the frame and the glass shards scratched the photograph. She never apologized and shortly beCAME by ex-GF.
In a way, I’m glad those men are mostly gone, as well as the bulk of the Greatest Generation. It sickens me to think of how they must view the current state of this country.
God bless them all, and my father as well, who passed in 2009, and was a B-17G pilot for the Mighty 8th.
BZ
BGM- Concur
WSF- Yep, they DID lift the entire country!
LL- No question, and they were/are all very humble.
BZ- You are correct… Sadly…
My son was fortunate enough to get to meet and interview Lt. Col. Cole of Comfort TX as part of a school history project. He was so impressed and motivated that he and his friends re-enacted the Doolittle Raid for a history contest. Thanks in large part to LTC Cole, they ended up going to the national finals in Washington D.C.
This was, of course, pre-obama when it was still considered patriotic to honor our military.
God Bless Warrior.
Damn. Hard to read. What I always like to mention is that when people state that the raid achieved no strategic purpose, they fail to realize that a single hit was scored on a Japanese carrier, and in the hubris of victory disease the IJN did not rush to repair said carrier in time for either the Coral Sea or Midway.
Unique men, all. I read that this year would be the last reunion because of age and infirmities. I think the historian should show up as each pass on and turn their cup over like the rest of their brothers. Will the case go to the Air Force Museum somewhere?
A follow up on a previous comment. The GA legislators passed HB512 by 117 – 56. Now concealed weapons can be carried in churches and school campuses across the state. I haven’t read the details yet, but anyone can Google it.
we lost a great man
sad that the good guys who are real patriots are going to spirit world,,leaving us with a current crop of selfcentered phony hypocrits are destroying our country,,may the other side be all they fought for!
RIP, Major!
Thank you and your brethren for your service!
(Old NFO – I’ll be stealing this because it’s important! Thanks – gfa)
It’s sad to see another hero from that generation dying.
Growing up these people were my parent’s contemporaries and WWII was still a fresh memory when I was born.
Tim- That is great!
Brighid- Amen
SPEMack- You are correct, and it WAS a huge lift!
CP- Unknown… And that’s good news in GA!
Rick- Yep
Anon- Concur
gfa- Feel free!
John- Same here, and Korea was just starting!