Richard Cole is celebrating his 100th birthday today.
Cole served as co-pilot to Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle during the raid on Tokyo, Japan. The purpose of the raid was to boost American morale while decreasing Japanese morale.
Cole trained briefly in Columbia, SC for the raid before being to transferred to Florida for further training.
After the raid, Doolittle and Cole crash landed their plane in China.
All 80 airmen involved in the raid received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Lt. Col. Doolittle received the Congressional Medal of Honor and a promotion to Brigadier General in addition to his Distinguished Flying Cross.
Cole remained in the China/India/Burma theatre serving in the Army Air Corps.
Pictured above are Doolittle (front left) and Cole (front right) with the rest of their crew for the raid.
Cole served as co-pilot to Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle during the raid on Tokyo, Japan. The purpose of the raid was to boost American morale while decreasing Japanese morale.
Cole trained briefly in Columbia, SC for the raid before being to transferred to Florida for further training.
After the raid, Doolittle and Cole crash landed their plane in China.
All 80 airmen involved in the raid received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Lt. Col. Doolittle received the Congressional Medal of Honor and a promotion to Brigadier General in addition to his Distinguished Flying Cross.
Cole remained in the China/India/Burma theatre serving in the Army Air Corps.
Pictured above are Doolittle (front left) and Cole (front right) with the rest of their crew for the raid.