Lt. Col. Richard E. “Dick” Cole, 99, of Comfort was honored by U.S. Congressman Lamar Smith on June 19 in his hometown as one of the last two surviving Doolittle’s Raiders from World War II, as a true hero from the 1942 bombing raid on Tokyo. 

Cole was Lt. Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle’s copilot in bomber #1 for that mission.

The mission was documented by historical records, the novel and movie “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” and subsequent books.

Smith’s invitation to honor Cole drew a standing-room-only crowd in the Comfort Park pavilion where Smith and Michael W. Hagee, general, U.S. Marine Corps (ret.) of the Nimitz Foundation in Fredericksburg, lauded Cole and the Raiders’ actions in training and on the April 18, 1942 mission.

The ceremony, in the presence of three family members, included the presentation of a replica of a Congressional gold medal to Cole, plus a U.S. flag that had flown over the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Smith said Cole had been invited to a recent ceremony held in Congress in Washington, D.C. but couldn’t attend. “So we brought the ceremony to him,” Smith said.

Smith said of Cole that he represents a proud legacy, and the Doolittle Raiders exemplified patriotism. Smith called Cole’s bravery extraordinary and said Cole represents living history and a rare truth for all.

“President Franklin Roosevelt tasked them to bomb Tokyo in retaliation for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The mission included 80 men and 16 bombers, and was dubbed the Doolittle Tokyo Raid,” Smith said.

Video history

The audience viewed a short video about the Doolittle Raiders that included an interview with Doolittle himself.

The speakers and photos in the video identified the planes as B25 Mitchell medium bombers, and said a Capt. Francis Low conceived the idea. The bombers were chosen for their capability to carry 2,000-pound bombs and fly 2,000 miles for the mission. The men trained to fly not at 500 feet above targets but as low as 287 feet altitude.

The plan for loaded bombers to take off from the aircraft carrier – a first – depended on the carrier USS Hornet sailing undetected within range of Japan. The video said orders were to go if they were within range; and if they weren’t, to return in the planes to Midway.

And when the day came, take-off was ordered eight hours early and 400 extra miles out, because Japanese boats were spotted, and could have seen and reported the carrier.

Speakers said the mission was to “get the job done and get the heck out of there.” Of 16 bombers, after the bombs were dropped on Tokyo, one was flown to Russia and the others to the Chinese coast and inland. Of the 80 crew members, 64 returned.

Hagee

“Dick, it is really my pleasure to be here to honor you,” Hagee said, giving his thanks and gratitude for the service of Cole and his fellow aviators.

He said the Nimitz Museum will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II by showing the movie “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” in September.

He said he asked Cole on another occasion if he had seen the movie; and the aviator’s response was, “No, I know how it ends.”

Cole

With the medal, the flag and a model of a B25 bomber in front of him, Cole said, “I accept this honor in the name of the people who served in World War II, those who survived and those who did not. I hope the spirit of their service lives on, because in this time we need all the help we can get.”

Cole then took questions from the audience.

Where did he land in China?

Cole’s and Doolittle’s plane made it inland to a southeast Chinese province that Cole said is now called by another name. “The weather at the time was stormy, a ‘kamikaze’ wind that rotated east to west. It gave us about a 35-knot tailwind.

“About 80 miles inland, we had no choice but to go on instruments. Our gas was about gone. We all bailed out successfully about 9 p.m. in a storm, with no injuries.”

He said they gathered everybody they could find, and walked about 24 hours beginning the next morning to a telephone at a Chinese post, arranged by the Flying Tigers personnel. He said Doolittle wouldn’t leave until he was notified about all the crews.

Where is the bomber that landed in Russia?

“A lot of people would like to know that,” Cole said, to laughter. His personal opinion is that since the Americans were sending planes to the Russians in a lend-lease program then, the Russians probably kept it and used it until it was scrap metal.”

How was Cole chosen as copilot?

Cole said Doolittle’s original copilot got appendicitis and was disqualified. Cole was chosen to talk to the operations officer about the vacant seat, and was told, “I’ll crew you up with the old man. He’s coming in today.”

Describe conditions when you bailed out.

Cole said he couldn’t see the ground because of the storm. “The whole thing was scary, but the most scary time was standing in the middle of the navigator’s well, and it was a black hole; and wondering what was down there.”

Cole said it wasn’t supposed to be mountainous, but he kept wondering on the way down what he would hit.

“My parachute actually hung in a small pine tree and I was hanging about 12 feet off the ground, but I couldn’t see the ground until the morning. I spent the night in the tree, and it was a good thing. It was more of a mountain than I thought and I couldn’t have stumbled around there in the dark,” Cole said.

How did you know the mission was important?

“It was proof to the Japanese that their leaders were lying to them about the Japanese islands not being able to be struck by air. It was news for the whole world that the United States was not defeated, though the Japanese meant to fight us from the West Coast after Pearl Harbor,” Cole said.

Cole survived the bombing raid to serve in the China –Burma campaign.

Nathan Chal

Cole’s grandson Nathan Chal won Smith’s nomination to the Air Force Academy, graduating in 2006; and younger grandson Elliott got Smith’s nomination to go to West Point Military Academy. He graduated in May.

“When we were growing up, he was just ‘Pops.’ He didn’t talk about this; and if anybody asked, he’d say he was just doing his duty like everyone else did then,” Nathan said. “He’d go to Doolittle Raider reunions, but at home he’d take us bike riding and other things.

Nathan said his family lineage didn’t figure into his military academy application. “Pops didn’t make any calls; and we didn’t mention him. And my brother went to West Point to the Army and is making his own path,” he said.

Cole stayed after the program to sign many attendees’ program and books, and answer more questions.