Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours is delighted to share the news that the World War II Foundation will be celebrating the 100th birthday of Lt. Col. Dick Cole, Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot on the famous “Doolittle Raid” of April 18, 1942, with the premier of the documentary Doolittle’s Raiders: A Final Toast.
Produced, directed and written by World War II Foundation Chairman, Tim Gray of Tim Gray Media, Doolittle’s Raiders: A Final Toast is a tribute to the men who were there and the few flyers (now just two) who still remain of the original 80. The film will premier on Labor Day, Monday, September 7 at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas.
About Doolitte’s Raiders: A Final Toast
Many of the names of the 80 flyers who took part in the April 18, 1942 raid on Japan may not be familiar to most, but collectively they will always be known in history as the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders. Long ago these American flyers, aboard 16 B-25 bombers, had accomplished a daring mission that changed the morale of an entire nation.
The aviators, led by famed commander Lt. Col. James Harold Doolittle, had taken the fight directly to the enemy for the first time in WWII and delivered payback for Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
The surviving WWII veterans from one of history’s greatest military missions were about to raise their silver goblets one last time ending a decades-long tradition.
It was time for the veterans to hold this final toast. They could wait no longer. Their numbers had dwindled to just a few.
Tim Gray was there to capture the historic moment.
Doolittle’s Raiders: A Final Toast is Gray’s 14th documentary, part of The World War II Foundation’s mission to tell the stories of those in Europe and the Pacific who fought in the war and also experienced its horrific events, from survivors of the Holocaust to citizens of European countries who endured German occupation to those who witnessed the Blitz in England.
The film will air this fall on PBS stations around the country.
Watch a trailer of the “Doolittle’s Raider’s: A Final Toast” here.
Texas Premier Details
Scott Murray, veteran NBC TV sports anchor and broadcast journalist, and C.V. Glines, author of Doolittle’s Tokyo Raiders and their official historian, will be joining Lt. Col. Dick Cole and Tim Gray for the celebration at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Murray will emcee and Glines will lead a guided conversation following the film.
Labor Day, Monday, September 7, 2015
6:30 pm $20 per person
Free for all veterans
You can purchase tickets at flightmuseum.com/doolittle-raiders
About the World War II Foundation
The WWII Foundation is one of the nation’s leading non-profit organizations committed to educating future generations about the enormous sacrifices and achievements of sixteen million Americans who served in WWII.
Each day 1,000 veterans of the war pass on, taking with them incredible stories of the time period 1939-1945. The goal of the Foundation is to preserve the individual experiences of those who witnessed the most devastating conflict known to man and to hopefully, pass on the lessons learned from World War II to a new generation. The organization also seeks, through educational outreach, to honor those who showed great examples of dedication, sacrifice and courage during one of the most horrific time periods in history.
With a strong focus on film and television documentaries which have been aired on PBS, the Foundation has successfully produced a series of award-winning documentaries.
Among the Foundation’s awards, Tim Gray, Chairman, personally won two regional Emmy’s for documentary film writing. WWII Foundation films have received nine nominations overall. Recently, the Foundation captured two prestigious Indie Film Fest Awards in their international competition. In 2013, the World War II Foundation/Tim Gray Media was one of just five organizations nationally to receive the prestigious Programming Excellence Award from American Public Television.
Project participants and supporters include Tom Ridge, Dan Aykroyd, Curt Schilling, Bill Belichick and Damian Lewis.
