Doolittle Raid - Postwar

Postwar

The Doolittle Raiders have held an annual reunion almost every year since the late 1940s. The high point of each reunion is a solemn, private ceremony in which the surviving Raiders perform a roll call, then toast their fellow Raiders who passed away during the previous year. Specially engraved silver goblets, one for each of the 80 Raiders, are used for this toast. The goblets of those who have died are inverted. So that each crewmember can be recognized, whether dead or alive, their names are engraved on the goblets twice, right side up and upside down. When only two Raiders remain alive, they will drink a final toast using the vintage 1896 bottle of Hennessy cognac which has accompanied the goblets to each Raider reunion since 1960. The vintage was chosen because it was the year of Jimmy Doolittle's birth. The bottle of cognac and the goblets had been maintained by the United States Air Force Academy on display in Arnold Hall, the cadet social center, until 2006. On 19 April 2006, the memorabilia were transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.