Whiskey Pete. The Ruptured Duck. Whirling Dervish. The Fickle Finger of Fate. These were the names of just four of the 16 B-25 bombers flown in the famous Doolittle Raid on April 18th, 1942.
Last week, planes just like these graced the skies over Okaloosa County, Florida, the setting of the 71st and final Doolittle Raider Anniversary Reunion. Events included a Parade of Heroes, a museum dedication, autograph signings, press conferences, and “Thirty Seconds Over The Emerald Coast–A Salute to the Raiders Fly By.” Larry Lovell and Katherine LeBlanc of Peter Mayer Public Relations were there to help our client Okaloosa County Tourism welcome back three of the four surviving Doolittle Raiders. Before their historic mission, the men had trained at Eglin Air Force Base.
“The Doolittle Raid was payback for Pearl Harbor and showed the Japanese that their homeland was vulnerable,” said Katherine LeBlanc, Public Relations Senior Account Executive. “It was an honor to get to meet the surviving Raiders and help keep their story alive.”
Initially, the team was concerned that events surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing, the fertilizer plant explosion in West Texas and the flooding in Chicago would marginalize media exposure of our positive news story. As it turned out, we were able to generate extensive media coverage locally, nationally and internationally. The entire PR campaign generated more than 500 news stories and more than 300 million impressions.
“The media was just as excited as we were to tell the story of the Doolittle Raid and what these American heroes have done throughout their lives to ensure our freedoms,” said LeBlanc. “It was a terrific opportunity to showcase this destination as the backdrop for such a significant moment in history.”
The Doolittle Raiders Anniversary Reunion was featured as The Associated Press’ “The Big Story” appearing on USATODAY.com and in the print edition of the paper the following day. It also ran on Yahoo!, FoxNews.com, ABCNews.com, The International Herald Tribune, the Daily Mail (U.K.), The Japan Times, Salon.com, Air Force Times, Newsday and many major metro daily newspapers.
In addition, we worked to field-produce two feature packages on FOX News – one that ran live during “America Live with Megyn Kelly” and one that closed Bret Baier’s “Special Report” primetime program on the national cable network.
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams closed its Thursday news broadcast with a 30-second story on the event. After lengthy coverage of the Boston bombings, Williams introduced our story by saying, “This will warm your heart, and we could use some of that right now.”
One of the highlights of the week was when 97-year-old Raider Colonel Richard E. Cole flew Panchito, one of the five bombers that were on display all week long at the Destin Airport. Larry and Katherine were among the lucky media members who got to take a free ride.
“Flying aboard the B-25 bomber with Lt. Col. Cole was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Larry Lovell, Public Relations Management Supervisor. “He is a true American hero and an example of what makes our country great. I’ll never forget cruising above the beaches of Destin with a living legend as the plane’s powerful twin engines roared, imagining what it must have been like 71 years ago.”
The Doolittle Raid has been the subject of several films, including Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo starring Spencer Tracy as Doolittle. In the 2001 film Pearl Harbor, Alec Baldwin played Doolittle.