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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;green18, post: 2194341, member: 10103&quot;]Back in April, just before I went on grand jury service, I read in the local news paper that the Doolittle Raiders had received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor congress can bestow.&nbsp; Out of the 80 original airman that participated in the action, only two now survive and neither one was able to attend the award presentation on Capital Hill.</p><p><br /></p><p>On April 18, 1942 sixteen B-25 Mitchel Bombers took off from the flight deck of the carrier USS Hornet.......destination Tokyo.&nbsp; The United States was still reeling from the effects of the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor and both civilian and military morale was low.&nbsp; A boost was needed so General &#039;Hap&#039; Arnold tapped Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle to lead Special Aviation Project No. 1, the bombing of Japan. Read more here......</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.doolittleraider.com/first_joint_action.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.doolittleraider.com/first_joint_action.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.doolittleraider.com/first_joint_action.htm</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Having read about these brave and heroic men I was hopeful that the US Mint would be striking a bronze rendition of the gold medal so I could add it to my collection and I was not disappointed.........<a href="http://catalog.usmint.gov/doolittle-tokyo-raiders-bronze-medal-3-inch-15MA.html?cgid=military#start=1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://catalog.usmint.gov/doolittle-tokyo-raiders-bronze-medal-3-inch-15MA.html?cgid=military#start=1" rel="nofollow">http://catalog.usmint.gov/doolittle-tokyo-raiders-bronze-medal-3-inch-15MA.html?cgid=military#start=1</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse of the medal depicts a B-25B Mitchel Bomber taking off from the USS Hornet along with 16 stars representing the 16 crews that participated in the operation.&nbsp; The inscriptions read, &#039;Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, &#039;First Strike&#039; and April 18, 1942&#039;.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse design depicts three &#039;Mitchel&#039;s&#039; approaching their target along with the four patches that represented the elements of the 17th Bombardment Group participating in the action.&nbsp; The inscriptions are &#039;17th Bombardment Group&#039;, Toujours Au Danger (ever into danger), and &#039;Act of Congress 2014.</p><p><br /></p><p>Obverse Designer: Chris Costello</p><p>Obverse Engraver: Don Everhart</p><p>Reverse Designer: Donna Weaver</p><p>Reverse Engraver: Joseph Menna</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]426701[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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