Passed Away Tuesday Morning In San Antonio. TX

Tuesday marked the end of an era when Lt. Col Dick Cole, who was Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot on the storied raid on Tokyo, passed away in San Antonio, TX at the age of 103. Cole was the last surviving member of the Doolittle Raiders.

The Air Force Times reports that Cole's passing was confirmed by Tom Casey, president of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Association. His daughter, Cindy Cole Chal, and his son Richard Cole were with him at the time of his death.

Cole was the co-pilot along with Doolittle in the No. 1 bomber that attacked Tokyo in 1942. The story of the raid is well-known. It was a huge morale booster for the United States less than a year after the Japanese conducted their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

Cole was born and raised in Dayton Ohio. He became interested in flying at an early age, and enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940 because "it was a good job" at a time when good jobs were difficult to come by. He and the rest of the 17th Bombardment Group volunteered for the Doolittle mission in February, 1942.

Cole and the other members of the Raiders were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Doolittle was awarded the Medal of Honor.

His other commendations included the Bronze Stare and The Air Force Commendation Medal. In 2014, he was one of four Raiders to be presented with a Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony at the White House.

(USAF Image. Cole sits at the controls of a refurbished U.S. Navy B-25 Mitchell displayed at an airshow in Burnet, Texas, in September. [Photo by Staff Sgt. Vernon Young Jr./Air Force])

FMI: Source report