Commemoration of the 72nd Anniversary of the WWII Doolittle Raid

Edward J. Saylor, Lt. Col. USAF ret. one of the last Doolittle Raiders
and Jonna Doolittle Hoppes, author and granddaughter of Jimmie Doolittle
Photo by Steven H Robinson

The Historic Flight Foundation had a full day of activities commemorating the Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942 72 years later on Saturday, April 19, 2014 at Paine Field in Mukilteo. Guests for events included Jonna Doolittle Hoppes and Edward J. Saylor, Lt. Col. USAF ret.

Six winners of an essay contest concerning the historic mission of 1942 were announced and were given a chance to fly in a North American B-25D Mitchell Bomber, the same type of plane used in the raid, over the Everett area. The youngest of the winning essayists was 11 year old Chase Jablinske.

Additional activities were  a dinner and remarks and a question answer period with Ed Saylor. Hoppes is the granddaughter of Jimmie Doolittle and author of books about Jimmie Doolittle. 

Pre-flight briefing for the essay winners chosen for the flight
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Saylor is one of the few remaining Doolittle Raiders. Saylor was a chief mechanic on the fifteenth airplane of the sixteen planes that made the first raid on Japan after Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Both Hoppes and Saylor signed books and memorablilia for attendees. The final event of the day was a screening of the film "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" based on the book by Ted Lawson, one of the pilots on the raid.

The last reunion of the five surviving aircraft crew members on the raid was held November 2013. Many of the survivors are unable to travel. Ed Saylor lives in the Enumclaw, Washington area and was able to attend and present many of his remembrances of the raid.

A Scholarship in the name of Edward J. Saylor was announced during the dinner and money was collected during the day to fund the scholarship.