Doolittle Raiders Commemorative Goblets
This is a postcard of the Doolittle Raiders Commemorative Goblets display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
The Doolittle Raid is named after Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle who lead an air-based raid over Tokyo and the Home Islands of Japan on April 18, 1942. The raid was the first attack by the US on the Japanese Home Islands and a propaganda victory for the Americans during the early stages of World War II.
The goblets are silver and each one bares the name of one of the flight crew on each of the sixteen planes involved in the raid. Each vertical volume represents one of the planes. When one of the raiders dies, the raider's goblet is turned upside down.
When only two raiders are remaining, they are to reunite in Dayton and toast their fallen comrades with a bottle of 1896 Hennessy also on display with the goblets (that being the year Doolittle was born).
This postcard is a bit dated. It shows, by my count, 17 remaining raiders; however, as of my last visit to the museum in August 2014, only four raiders were still living. As of February 2016, only two raiders remained alive.
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