A B-25 landed at Gould Peterson Municipal Airport in Tarkio on Tuesday, April 18, 2017, after attending the 75th anniversary reunion of the Doolittle Raid. The plane had to wait out bad weather before it could fly home. Pictured left are the plane’s co-pilot Warren Pietch and Sam Graves, both crew members of the Texas Flying Legends Museum. Several townspeople stopped by the airport to check out the plane.

A piece of history touched down at the Gould Peterson Municipal Airport in Tarkio on Tuesday evening, April 18, 2017. Betty’s Dream, a B-25J, made an overnight stop at the airport due to bad weather as the pilots and plane flew home from the 75th anniversary reunion of the Doolittle Raid. April 18 marked the 75th anniversary of the raid, a surprise aerial attack on Tokyo, Japan. Betty’s Dream and pilots attended the reunion in Dayton, Ohio, at the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Richard Cole (101), mission leader Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot, is the last surviving member of the Doolittle Raiders, whose bombing of Tokyo gave the United States a big victory following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The 80 pilots, navigators, engineers, bombardiers and gunners took off in B-25 Mitchell bombers from the USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean. A bomber takeoff from the deck of an aircraft carrier had never been done before and the group had to takeoff 12 hours ahead of schedule after being spotted by Japanese fishing boats. The early departure meant the planes would more than likely run out of gas before landing in China. Cole was the co-pilot in the lead plane with Doolittle. Bombs were dropped on oil storage facilities and military installations before Doolittle ordered his crew to abandon the plane. Cole leaped out with his parachute and landed in a tree, where he was found by Chinese nationalists the next day, with Doolittle by their side. Eleven crews had to bail out of their planes. Four bombers crash landed. One crew flew to the Soviet Union, where they were interned before being set free. Eight men were captured. One starved to death in a Japanese prison camp and three were executed by the Japanese. After the war, Doolittle lived up to his promise to have a party if the attack succeeded. That party would continue on, year after year, as the pilots and their crew shared cognac in silver goblets with the Raiders’ names engraved on them. If a Raider passed away during that year, his goblet would be turned over. In 2013, there were only four Raiders left and they made a final toast as a group. [History provided by CNN.com] Though Betty’s Dream did not fly in the raid, as a B-25, it represented the planes used in the raid and was one of many to attend the reunion. Built in 1945, this particular plane is a B-25 outfitted with 10, .50 caliber forward-firing machine guns controlled by the pilot, becoming a low-level strafer. Its max speed is 275 miles per hour and has a range of 1,350 miles with a service ceiling of 25,000 feet. It was a reliable plane and very few combat veteran B-25’s remain. This plane never saw action as it was complete when the plant closed and sold to an aircraft industry in 1946. Many years later, it served as a fire bomber putting out forest fires for 19 years. Now the plane is part of the Texas Flying Legends Museum, flying as “Betty’s Dream.” Betty’s Dream is painted in honor of Capt. Charles E. “Pop” Rice, Jr., who became Operations Officer of the 499th Squadron and was assigned to Betty’s Dream in June of 1945. The plane escorted two “Betty” bombers carrying the Japanese peace envoys to le Shima on August 19, 1945, and again on the return mission from the conference in Manila with General MacArthur’s staff. By the time these talks ended World War II, Betty’s Dream had taken part in 22 missions and sunk two Japanese ships.
As the plane flew into Tarkio on April 8, it was operated by pilot Alan Miller, co-pilot Warren Pietsch, and director of maintenance Bernie Vasquez. These three are Texas Flying Legends Museum crew members, a group in which U.S. Congressman Sam Graves of Tarkio is part of as a pilot. Though the plane had to land in Tarkio due to bad weather elsewhere, the weather was beautiful here in Tarkio and several people were able to stop by the airport and take a look at the plane, inside and out. It’s a great piece of flying history and another reason Tarkio is so lucky to have an airport that can cater to a variety of aircraft. Plans are underway for the airshow at the Tarkio airport July 8. It’s going to be even better than the last so be sure to mark this date on your calendars!