Personal History Lessons
by dsmouse ~ April 16th, 2008. Filed under: Just....Stuff, Just...Writing.
I attended a lecture and book signing last night. The Lecturer was Jonna Doolittle Hoppes and the lecture was about her grandfather, Jimmy Doolittle. I picked up the book when I was in DC a couple of weeks ago and truly enjoyed the story…. The book told the story of Jimmy as well as his wife of 71 years, Joe.
I had always been fascinated by history, and have become more and more interested in aviation history the last few years. Jimmy Doolittle was a true pioneer in aviation. He was the first person awarded a PHD from MIT in Aeronautic Engineering - and as a pilot set many world records. He is also a Medal of Honor winner, due to his leading the Raids over Tokyo barely 4 months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor….
Also attending with Jonna were her parents, and 90-year old Tom Griffin, a navigator from the 9th crew that was on the Raid. All three of them signed my book.
The World War II Generation is fast disappearing….and if you have a veteran in your family, you should try to get his or her story and write it down.