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June 23 2016


And then there was one.
















 (Sgt. Thatcher on left)


From the Missoulian newspaper:


MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — One of the last two surviving members of the Doolittle Raiders — who bombed Japan in an attack that stunned that nation and boosted U.S. morale — has died in Montana, his family said. Retired Staff Sgt. David Jonathan Thatcher died Wednesday in a Missoula hospital. He was 94. He suffered a stroke on Sunday, Thatcher's son Jeff told the Missoulian newspaper (http://bit.ly/28V8l2c).
Thatcher's death leaves Retired Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" Cole of Comfort, Texas, as the only living airman from among 80 who took off from an aircraft carrier on 16 B-25 bombers to target factory areas and military installations in Japan on April 18, 1942. Afterward, the planes headed for airfields in mainland China, realizing they would run out of fuel, according to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

The mission lifted American spirits five months after Pearl Harbor was bombed and forced the Japanese to spend resources defending their home islands.

Time is just about done with the “greatest generation,” the WWII and the Korean War guys; it’s starting to gnaw on us Viet Nam guys and before you know it, we’ll be watching all the other intervening wars' lucky participants disappear into the gaping maw that is history. That’s just the way it is.

For now, though, let’s celebrate the lives of the giants who walked before us and have now walked on by.

Doolittle’s Raiders were the epitome of what America stood for in the 20th century: bold, courageous, determined, self-sacrificing, hard working and humble. Words we simply do not recognize today. They fought a war, won the peace then came home and ran companies, became teachers and even delivered the mail (jobs that are now largely vilified I might add.) They lived with a quiet optimism that was justified by the very lives they led.

It’s not clear to me how we have distanced ourselves from them this far, this fast; today we are selfish, fearful and petty. There are still, of course, many examples of courage and strength to do the right thing today - but almost none by the leaders of the country. And things aren’t looking too good for the future either.

There is a famous quote by Sir Isaac Newton that said, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Makes you wonder what we shall see standing on the shoulders of today’s pygmies.


RIP  Sgt. Thatcher and thank you for what you did for your country.

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