Retired Lt. Col. Richard Cole, Maj. Thomas Griffin, and SSgt. David Thatcher—three of the five surviving Doolittle Raiders—are scheduled to gather in late March in Punta Gorda, Fla., for a historic reunion with a Chinese delegation sent by the Chinese ambassador to the United States. This meeting, taking place in conjunction with the 31st Annual Florida International Air Show, will be the first time that these Doolittle Raiders have met with a Chinese delegation since their April 1942 bombing raid on Tokyo and subsequent escape to safety through China. Of the 80 Doolittle Raiders, 64 who bailed out over China or crash landed in their B-25s in Chinese territory evaded Japanese capture and made it to safety due to the bravery and sacrifice of Chinese soldiers and civilians. (Doolittle Tokyo Raiders release) (For more, read Doolittle’s Raid from the Air Force Magazine archives)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.