Military

DOOLITTLE RAIDER

Dave Thatcher was flight engineer/gunner on crew #7 for the April 18, 1942, bombing of Tokyo and other Japanese cities. The 16 B-25 Mitchells lumbered off the deck of the USS Hornet deep in the western Pacific, each carrying four 500-pound bombs, in a daring move to raise American morale and shake Japan's confidence at a time when the Japanese were winning everything. It did both. All the bombers were lost -- none of them to hostile action -- and 11 of the 80 aircrew were killed or captured. Thatcher's plane ditched at sea. He is shown here, age 88, at a 2010 air show in Reading, Pennsylvania. Thatcher died in 2016, the next to last veteran of the mission.

LAST DOOLITTLE RAIDER

Richard E. Cole at 2009 Reading Air Show in Pennsylvania. He was Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot for the April 18, 1942, bombing of Tokyo by 16 carrier-launched B-25 Mitchells. This first attack on Japan came less than five months after Pearl Harbor, shocking the Japanese and lifting the morale of Americans. In foreground is a model of the medium bomber. Cole was aboard the first of the B-25s to take off from the U.S.S. Hornet and was the last living veteran of the raid. He died at age 103 in 2019, nine days before the the 77th anniversary.

TOASTING THE DOOLITTLE RAID

These 80 sterling goblets honor the aircrew who took part in the April 18, 1942, bombing of the Tokyo area. At each of their annual reunions, the Raiders honor those who have died and whose goblets are turned upside down. You also see a bottle of cognac, vintage 1896, the year of Jimmy Doolittle's birth. It is to be drunk by the last two Raiders at the last reunion. They are housed in a portable wooden case made by Raider Richard Cole and on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. In 2010, eight goblets were still upright.

Re-enactor as World War II Luftwaffe pilot at 2008 Reading Air Show.

Luftwaffe re-enactor at 2008 World War II weekend at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania

HIROSHIMA MISSION VETERAN

Enola Gay navigator Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk at the 2008 World War II weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania. His B-29, piloted by Paul Tibbets, dropped the Little Boy atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6th, 1945.. Van Kirk died in 2014 at age 93

MIGHTY MAC

Gen. Douglas MacArthur re-enactor at 2008 World War II weekend at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania

LUFTWAFFE DRESS

Re-enactor at 2008 World War II weekend In Reading, Pennsylvania.

WORLD WAR II ACE

Clarence "Bud" Anderson at 2009 Reading Air Show. He was a triple ace and flew a Mustang named "Old Crow" while with the 357th Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force in England. Anderson was the leading ace of the 363rd Fighter Squadron, with 16 1/4 victories. He was 87 years old when this picture was taken.

THINGS PAST

P-51B Mustang, restored as one flown by World War II ace Clarence "Bud" Anderson, at 2009 World War II weekend in Reading, Pennsylvania

PILOT & GUNNER

Re-enactors aboard Dauntless Dive Bomber at 2009 World War II weekend at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania

A 1942 LOOK IN 2009

Re-enactor sits in pilot seat of a Dauntless Divebomber at the Reading Air Show in Pennsylvania.

GRUMMAN TBF AVENGER

The torpedo bomber flies at the 2009 World War II weekend at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania

COMBATANTS

Re-enactors as British and German pilots, 2008 World War II weekend at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania

PAST & PRESENT

Re-enactments are part of the 2009 World War II weekend at Reading Airport in Pennsylvania. Here are Bill Riley and Joe Zieglar as Abbott & Costello. With them are doubles for FDR, the president's driver and a reporter.

WORLD WAR TWO TRIO

At the 2008 WW2 weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania

PACIFIC OUTPOST

U.S. Army re-enactors at 2005 World War II weekend at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania

HISTORY RECALLED

Re-enactors of German soldiers hold roll call at 2005 World War II weekend at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.

HOME FRONT RECALLED

Rosies the Riveters. at the 2005 World War II weekend in Reading, Pennsylvania

TUSKEEGEE AIRMEN

These are the real guys, not re-enactors, at the 2005 Reading Air Show in Pennsylvania. The Tuskegee Airmen were African-American pilots who flew with distinction during World War II in the 332nd Fighter Group of the US Army Air Corps.

ON THE MARCH

GI re-enactors at the 2007 World War II weekend, Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.

HITLER'S ELITE RECALLED

Waffen SS re-enactors look the part at the 2007 World War II weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.

CURTISS P-40

This Warhawk sports Flying Tigers livery. It was on display at the 2007 World War II weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.

FLYING FORTRESS

Boeing B-17 prepares for takeoff during 2007 World War II weekend at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.

NORDEN BOMBSIGHT

In the nose of B-29 at 2004 Reading Air Show in Pennsylvania.

SCREAMING EAGLE

Re-enactor as paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division. He was part of the 2005 World War II weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN STARS

Spitfire on left, Hurricane at right. At 2005 Reading Air Show in Pennsylvania.

WOOL UNIFORMS ON A HOT JUNE DAY

Re-enactors as German soldiers at 2007 Reading Air Show in Pennsylvania.

NOT A TUXEDO

Allgemeine SS re-enactor at 2007 Reading Air Show in Pennsylvania.

FRATERNIZING

Re-enactors as German Luftwaffe and Russian army officers and a peasant. They participated in the 2008 Reading Air Show in Pennsylvania.

BOCKSCAR

Ths is the U.S. Army Air Force B-29 that dropped the "Fat Man" atom bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9th, 1945, The nose art was added after the mission, which was led by pilot Maj.Charles Sweeney.

BOMBARDEER AT WORK

Mannequin is hunched over Norden bombsight in the nose of Bockscar, the B-29 that dropped the second of the two atom bombs used against Japan. Kokura was the primary target for the August 9th, 1945, mission, but since clouds obscured that city, the crew flew on to and dropped "Fat Man" onto the secondary target, which was Nagasaki. The aircraft is on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

ANGLO-AMERICAN

A World War II-era British-built Spitfire in U.S. livery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

SPY PLANE

SR-71 Blackbird at the Strategic Air & Space Museum near Omaha, Nebraska. Developed and built by Lockheed, it was in service from 1968 to 1998. None was ever downed by enemy action.

SABRE JET

The North American F-86 was the premier U.S. jet fighter in the Korean conflict. This one hangs from the ceiling at the Strategic Air & Space Museum outside Omaha, Nebraska.

SOVIET RELIC

The MiG-15 was one of the earliest swept-wing jet fighters and achieved fame in the Korean conflict, where it was piloted by Soviet as well as North Korean and Chinese pilots. This example is at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

SS MEN

At the 2009 World War II weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.

MIG ALLEY

Camouflaged Korean War-era MiG-15 and MiG-17 line aft flight deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York on a summer evening in 2010. Theywere purchased on Ebay. Really.

MOVIE PROP

Korean War era helicopter that was used in the movie "M.A.S.H." It is an exhibit on the hangar deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.

AIRBORNE

Re-enactors as US Army paratroopers. It was the 2009 WW2 weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.

B-29 BOMB BAY

This is looking up to the pressurized tunnel that enabled crew to move past the two unpressurized bomb bays between the front and rear of the Superfortress. Boeing developed the four-prop heavy bomber using state-of-the-art technology at a cost of some $3 billion 1945 dollars. It is the costliest weapon project of World War II, exceeding the tab for even the Manhattan Project.

HAWKER HURRICANE

The single seat World War II British fighter did much of the combat with German planes during the Battle of Britain and served throughout the war. This one, at the Reading, Pennsylvania, air show in 2004, is named for double-amputee British ace Douglas Bader.