"How the Soviet NKVD smuggled Doolittle Raiders" Topic

…to safety during WWII

"On April 18, 1942, 60 officers and crewmen aboard 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers did the improbable. They took off from the flight deck of the USS Hornet and flew a bombing mission over the Japanese Empire's capital of Tokyo and a few select other targets on its home island. It was not only revenge for the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, it was a reminder to Japan that it wasn't invincible – the war it started would soon come to them.

The Doolittle Raid, as it came to be named after its chief planner, Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, didn't hurt Japanese war efforts and only killed around 50 people. For Americans, it was a huge morale booster at a time when things looked pretty grim. For the raiders, it looked like a suicide mission. In the end, three would die in the raid and four of the eight captured raiders would be killed by the Japanese or die in captivity…"

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Armand

Yes, accounts I've read mention the one plane that landed at Vladivostok, for a sentence or two, then go on to talk about the Americans who landed (or crashed) in China or were killed by the Japanese. Good find, Tango!

Grelber

A votre service mes amis…

Armand

I went to high school with the son of Col. Henry "Hank" Potter, the navigator on Jimmy Doolittle's plane. He was a very humble and easy-going man, even for an former Army Air Force officer (they tend to be pretty conservative).
I remember seeing the brown leather bomber's jackets covered with patches hanging in his garage. Whenever I tried to talk Steve into giving me one, he would say, "I'm pretty sure my dad wants to keep his jackets."
He was really just the nicest man you could ever meet.
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Oops! You can only read that once, then the N.Y. Times wants you to subscribe. I hate it when they do that!

Thanks

Armand