Doolittle Raider David J. Thatcher 1921-2016 Age: 94
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MISSOULA — David Thatcher, one of the last two airmen from the Doolittle Raiders of World War II, died early Wednesday in a Missoula hospital.
Thatcher, 94, passed away from complications of a massive stroke he suffered on Sunday, according to his son Jeff.
Thatcher’s death leaves Dick Cole of Comfort, Texas, as the lone survivor of the 80 Doolittle Raiders who flew a daring bombing over Japan on April 18, 1942 – months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Cole was Col. Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot on the raid. He turned 100 last September.
Thatcher was tail gunner/engineer on the bomber nicknamed the “Ruptured Duck” and piloted by Lt. Ted Lawson. After bombing targets in Tokyo, Lawson steered toward China, crash landing near a beach and flipping the plane in the surf. Thatcher was bruised but saved the lives of his more seriously injured crewmates by gathering them on the beach and convincing friendly Chinese guerillas to take them inland to safety.
A year later, Lawson wrote “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” – the first account of the Doolittle Raid. It became a best-seller and was made into an Academy Award-winning movie starring Spencer Tracey as Doolittle. Robert Walker played Thatcher.
Born in Bridger on July 31, 1921, Thatcher graduated from high school in Absarokee in 1939 and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in December 1940. He and wife, Dawn, were married after the war and celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in December. They lived most of those years in Missoula, where Thatcher was a clerk and later a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service.
He’s survived by his wife and three of their five children — Sandy Miller, Becky Thatcher-Keller and Jeff. Son Gary served as a U.S. Army Medvac and was killed in a helicopter crash in 1970 while serving in Vietnam. Daughter Debbie died in June 2009 from complications of brain cancer.
A funeral service is scheduled for Monday, June 27, at 10 a.m. at Garden City Funeral Home, 1205 W. Broadway. A full military ceremony with honors will be held at Sunset Memorial Gardens at 11:45 a.m., followed by a reception at the funeral home.