Page 4 - Pendleton Field News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

PENDLETON — Two events Monday, April 18, in Pendleton commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid.

Remembering the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo , Local News, Portland local News, Breaking News alerts for Portland city.

PENDLETON — Two events Monday, April 18, in Pendleton commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid.

By Lt Col Terrence G. Popravak, Jr., USAF (Retired), 142nd Wing / History Office / Published April 15, 2021 Frank W. Wright’s fighter plane in RAF 209 Squadron during World War I was the famous Sopwith Camel. The British Sopwith F.1 Camel shot down more enemy aircraft than any other Allied World War I fighter. Best characterized by its unmatched maneuverability, the Camel was difficult to defeat in a dogfight. Tricky handling characteristics, however, made the Camel a dangerous aircraft to fly. The example pictured here on display at the National Museum of the US Air Fo...

“April is the cruelest month,” wrote T. S. Eliot in his poem “The Waste Land.” April has certainly seen its share of tragedies through the centuries. But 79 years ago, on April 18, combat aviators training here at Pendleton Field helped lift the spirits of a town and nation in shock from a war they hoped never to see. As the 1940s dawned in America, the world situation was perilous. Nazi Germany had conquered Europe, Mussolini’s forces threatened North Africa and Japan was creating a colonial empire in the Pacific. Despite these looming threats, the ongoing Great Depr...