The final member of an impressive breed of airmen passed away this week in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of 103. Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Dick Cole was the last surviving member of the famous Doolittle Raiders, the first U.S. forces to bring World War II to Japan following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu on December 7, 1941. Cole sat right seat on the B-25 piloted by Doolittle. Cole told the Air Force Times in 2015, “I wasn’t worried particularly because I was flying with the best pilot.” A Dayton, Ohio native, Cole also told the paper he, “first became interested in flying as a kid, when he would ride his bicycle to the Army Air Corps test base McCook Field and watch the pilots fly.”
Dick Cole, Last Doolittle Raider, Heads West
Key Takeaways:
- Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Dick Cole, the last surviving member of the Doolittle Raiders, passed away at 103.
- Cole served as co-pilot to Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle during the historic April 18, 1942, raid on Japan, which was the first U.S. attack on Japanese soil in World War II.
- Launched by 16 B-25s from the USS Hornet, the raid aimed to demonstrate Japan's vulnerability to attack and provide a crucial morale boost for America after Pearl Harbor.
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