The Doolittle Raiders: And Then There Was One.

 Sergeant David J. Thatcher, 07-31-1921, 06-22-2016 (Airplane #7, "Ruptured Duck")

Eighty brave men took off that infamous April day in 1942 from the deck of the USS Hornet.  Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, sixteen B-25's took off in retaliation on Japan for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

After the war, the Raiders began, and continued to have annual reunions.  With the recent passing of Sgt. Thatcher, (his obituary here), those reunions will sadly be no more. 

Colonel Richard Cole, Co-Pilot Airplane #1 - The last surviving Raider.

Thatcher's passing leaves Colonel Richard Cole (now 100-years old) as the last surviving member of the Raid.  Cole was was Doolittle's Co-Pilot on Aircraft #1.

If you are one of the few people on Earth who don't know about the Doolittle Raid (or are a Millennial), read here, because we don't make men like that, nor have that kind of resolve, anymore.

Godspeed Doolittle Raiders.