And Then There Were None

The Doolittle Raiders, as they preferred to be called, had long since planned for there being only one, and then none of them.

Retired Lt. Col. Richard ‘Dick’ E. Cole opens the 1896 bottle of cognac before The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders shared their last toast at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Nov. 9, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. The Air Force hosted the famed Doolittle Tokyo Raiders’ final toast to their fallen comrades during an invitation-only ceremony. Cole was the copilot of Aircraft №1. (U.S. Air Force photo/Desiree N. Palacios)

On June 27th, 2016, Lt. Col (Ret) Richard Cole stood graveside as Staff Sgt. David J. Thatcher was laid to rest in Montana. From that moment until his death on April 9th, 2019 at the age of 103, he had carried a burden. The Doolittle Raiders, as they preferred to be called, had long since planned for there being only one, and then none of them.

Lt Col Richard Cole honors Staff Sgt. David J. Thatcher 2016 (US Air Force Photo)

Every year since 1959, a custom set of 80 goblets representing each member of the Doolittle Raiders was presented with a reading of the names and a toast. The living participated, the dead had their names read and their goblets turned over. Each goblet had a man’s name on it twice, inscribed so that the name was readable regardless of disposition. Each year the list was read, and the number dwindled from the 61 who had survived the war out of the 80 Raiders. In 2013 the 1896 Hennessy VS cognac (Doolittle’s birth year) meant to be shared among the last two survivors was opened for the ‘final toast’ by Cole. Though three Raiders remained, they decided it best not…