Tribute for Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole, the final surviving member of the Doolittle Raiders. The Doolittle Raid was the United States’ first counterattack on the Japanese mainland after Pearl Harbor on April 18, 1942. Eighty U.S. Army Air Forces airmen in 16 modified B-25B Mitchell bombers launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet, about 650 nautical miles east of Japan, to strike Tokyo. While it only caused minor damage, the mission boosted morale on the U.S. homefront a little more than four months after Pearl Harbor, and sent a signal to the Japanese people not only that the U.S. was ready to fight back but also that it could strike the Japanese mainland. Cole was Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot in the No. 1 bomber during the daring 1942 raid to strike Japan. Cole, the last surviving member of the Doolittle Raiders who rallied the nation’s spirit during the darkest days of World War II, passed away on April 9, 2019. He was 103.