B-25 at Doolittle Reunion Champaign Gal was taking off at Grimes Field in Urbana, OH before the 70th Reunion of the Doolittle Raiders at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH in April 2012. Twenty B-25 aircraft attended the reunion with the five remaining crew members from the raid. On April 17th -18th this year, the 75th Anniversary will be held. Seventeen B-25s are expected to attend this year. For a first hand account of B-25 activities at the 70th Doolittle Raider reunion: B-25s at the 70th Doolittle Raiders Reunion.
Looking back; on 18 Apr 1942, sixteen brave flight crews took off from the USS Hornet aircraft carrier in B-25 bombers to strike the Japanese mainland in a daring mission early in WWII. Of the 80 men on the mission, only one remains with us to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their successful mission. This reunion remembers them and all the brave WWII air crews who fought and sometimes died to keep us a free nation. And, it’s refreshing to see the current generation of pilots, air crews, and ground crews that keep these B-25s flying.
Champaign Gal is based at Grimes Field as part of the Champaign Air Museum. She has the home field advantage, but doesn’t seem to need it. Similar images could have easily been taken at numerous airfields around the world in 1942.
