SANTA MONICA : Museum’s New Statue Honors WWII Pilot Gen. Doolittle
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General James B. Doolittle, the World War II fighter pilot who led a successful bombing raid on Tokyo, was honored with a bronze statue at the Santa Monica Airport’s Museum of Flying at a ceremony on Wednesday.
The bust, a larger-than-life bronze replica of the four-star general, with medals and ribbons decorating his lapels, was donated to the museum by the Santa Monica Bay Chapter 97 Royal Arch Masons, a nonprofit organization of which Doolittle was a member.
Doolittle, who died last year at 97, was perhaps best known for voluntarily leading 16 B-25 bombers on April 18, 1942, from the U.S. aircraft carrier Hornet in the Pacific to Tokyo, in one of the first successful raids on the Japanese mainland.
The bronze bust is the first statue of an aviation figure donated to the museum.
“It is a great addition to our collection,” said Bob Convey, director of operations for the Museum.
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