B-25s will rumble over Dayton

The anticipated rumble of 17 World War II B-25 Mitchell bombers will soar over Dayton next month to mark the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid, officials said.

The airplanes are set to fly over Memorial Park at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at 2:30 p.m. April 18.

Two B-1B Lancer bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., will end the fly over, officials said.

Eighty U.S. Army Air Corps airmen flew in 16 B-25 bombers off the deck of the USS Hornet to bomb Japan on April 18, 1942, after the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, brought the United States into World War II.

The sole remaining Raider, 101-year-old Lt. Col. Richard Cole, plans to mark the anniversary in a museum ceremony.

Cole, a Dayton native who lives in Texas, was co-pilot to then Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle on the historic raid.

The B-25 bombers will be displayed 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 17 and 9 a.m. to noon April 18 on the museum’s airstrip.

About 20 B-25s flew over the museum to mark the 70th anniversary of the attack in 2012.

For more information on the event and activities, log onto http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Upcoming/DoolittleTokyoRaid75thAnniversary.aspx.

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