Doolittle Raider who shunned title of 'hero' dies

Cliff Radel, The Cincinnati Enquirer | NationalDesk

CINCINNATI -- Now, he's flying with the angels.

Tom Griffin, a Doolittle Raider who navigated one of 16 B-25 bombers from the heaving deck of an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific during the dark early days of World War II to launch a surprise daylight attack on Tokyo, died Tuesday night in his sleep at the Fort Thomas Veterans Affairs hospital. The Green Bay, Wis., native and long-time Green Township, Ohio, resident was 96.

The ranks of the Doolittle Raiders once numbered 80. Griffin's passing leaves just four survivors. They are: Dick Cole (a Dayton, Ohio, native and the copilot of Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, the leader of the raid and its namesake), Robert Hite, Edward Saylor and David Thatcher.

The remaining Raiders will have their 71st reunion April 17 through 21 in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., where Griffin's passing will be noted. He had planned to attend the event.

"I had also planned to live to be 100," Griffin said during an interview he gave to this writer just after a heart condition landed the retired accountant in the Fort Thomas facility in late November. "But the way I feel, with my ticker, I might have to eat my own words."

By his own count, Griffin cheated death eight times during World War II. The first time was when he took off in a land-based bomber from the deck of the USS Hornet at 9 a.m. April 18, 1942. The last time came in 1945. After spending months and traveling thousands of miles behind enemy lines, Griffin returned home only to be sent on bombing runs over Europe. He was shot down and taken prisoner on July 4, 1943 after a mission over Sicily. He was freed from a German prison camp nearly two years later.

"Spending the last 22 months of the war in a German prison camp was no fun," Griffin wryly noted.

On the day the Germans planned to execute all of the prisoners of war, the camp was liberated by allied troops.

"That was a glorious day," Griffin recalled.

For his war experiences as a Doolittle Raider, Griffin was often called a hero. Every time he heard the "h-word" he would shake his head and humbly decline the title.

"I'm no hero," he said in November.

"I just did my job as best I could."