On the recordApril 10, 2019
When I was reading the Cincinnati Enquirer online this morning, an article headline grabbed my attention: ``Last WW II Doolittle Raider dies.'' Lieutenant Colonel Dick Cole was 103 when he passed away Tuesday in Texas. There were 80 Raiders, and the fifth last to survive was Tom Griffin, from my Cincinnati, Ohio, district, who was 96 when he died a couple of years ago. I had the honor of getting to know Tom well over the years. He was a wonderful guy, and, yes, he was a hero. That is a term that gets used quite frequently nowadays; but Tom Griffin, and Dick Cole, and the other 78 brave Americans who took off that night from the USS Hornet truly were heroes. Only months after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, their daring feat gave America a much-needed shot in the arm that was a first and major step in winning that war. Now these 80 courageous, gallant, patriotic Doolittle Raiders are all gone, but they will never be forgotten. ____________________
