Paul Handwerker drove up from Xenia along with his nephew. The B-25 was the first multi-engine plane Handwerker learned to fly, he said. In the 1950s, the bombers were used for pilot training. Handwerker said he still remembers the heavy controls.
“It was like driving a big, heavy truck,” he said.
Emil Spivla, who now lives in Springfield, served in World War II in France, Austria and several other countries. As a member of the 99th Infantry Division, he remembers seeing the planes flying overhead almost every day. But Thursday was the first time he had seen them again since he left the service in 1946.
The bombers were scheduled to arrive from all across the country. Russ Gilmore served as a pilot for the Maid in the Shade, a B-25 which saw action in Corsica, Italy.
Now based in Mesa, Ariz., Gilmore said the bomber was destined for a scrap heap in Texas before it was saved and restored with the Commemorative Air Force. After a restoration project that took 28 years, the bomber took its first flight only 11 months ago.
David Baker, a co-pilot, said they had to push hard to make sure the bomber was ready in time for the reunion this weekend. Since this will be the last memorial to honor the Doolittle Raiders, its crew wanted to make sure the bomber made the flight.
Baker said crew members spent much of the day talking to veterans who remember working around the planes.
“It can become extremely emotional when you get these veterans that are part of that era,” he said.
Thursday’s event was part of a weekend-long event to honor the Doolittle Raiders in their final reunion. In 1942, B-25s launched from an aircraft carrier in the first mission that was able to strike back at Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0355 or msanctis@coxohio.com.
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