Richard E. Cole Signed Doolittle Raid Launch 11x14 Photo (Beckett)

  • Lot number 3017547
  • Total views 2
  • Total bids 5
  • Winning bid $25.99
  • Buyer's premium $4.42
  • Total $30.41
  • DAILY NO RESERVE

Photo measures 11" x 14" in size. Hand-signed by Richard E. Cole (D. 2019).

Richard Eugene Cole was an American career officer in the United States Air Force. He was one of the airmen who took part in the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942, serving as the co-pilot to Jimmy Doolittle in the lead airplane of the raid. He eventually reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Cole remained in China after the raid until June 1943 and served again in the China Burma India Theater from October 1943 until June 1944. He later served as Operations Advisor to the Venezuelan Air Force from 1959 to 1962. He retired from the Air Force in 1966 and became the last living Doolittle Raider in 2016.

The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first air operation to strike the Japanese archipelago. It demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attack, served as retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor, and provided an important boost to American morale. The raid was planned, led by, and named after Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, later General of the United States Army Air Forces.

The lot / autograph(s) includes an official Beckett Authentication Services serially-numbered hologram and matching COA for authenticity purposes.

Authentication: Beckett COA

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