Via Fox News:
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole, the last surviving member of World War II’s Doolittle Raiders, died Tuesday in Texas at the age of 103.
The president of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Association told The Air Force Times that Cole died in San Antonio on Tuesday morning with his son and daughter by his side.
Cole, originally from Dayton, Ohio, was mission commander Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot in the 1942 bombing attack less than five months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The bold raid on Japan is credited with providing the United States with a morale boost and helping turn the tide of the war in the Pacific.
“I think the main thing was that you had to go in with a positive attitude,” Cole said in September of the against-the-odds mission. “I really didn’t worry about it. It was our job, and we knew what to expect.”
In 2015, the Raiders, including Cole, were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal for their “outstanding heroism, valor, skill and service to the United States.”