General Doolittle Still the Hero at Miramar Tribute

James Doolittle learned to fly in San Diego, received his military commission here and married his wife, Jo, 67 years ago at the Hotel del Coronado. He returned Thursday to accept a war hero’s tribute at Miramar Naval Air Station, where Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart took the stage for a 90th-birthday salute to the four-star general.

Marine recruits in camouflaged uniforms were bused in by the hundreds to sit on the hot, asphalt parking lot where a stage was erected for a Bob Hope show to honor the World War II hero and aviation pioneer.

American fighter aces joined Doolittle and 13 of his relatives before a stage flanked by military aircraft to watch a celebrity-studded show punctuated by Hope’s monologues. Most of the audience had seen similar shows on television, and the guest of honor saw his first such show live in 1943 in North Africa.

“It’s a show I’ve been doing for about 40 years,” said Hope as he stood in the shade provided by the wing of an F-14 parked next to the stage. But unlike most of Hope’s shows, this one was not geared just to entertain the troops.

“This man is going to be 90 and he is a . . . hero,” Hope said. “That’s why we are so proud of him.” Hope said he first became friends with Doolittle during World War II while doing a string of USO shows in North Africa.

Doolittle, the first pilot to fly across North America in less than 24 hours, became an internationally recognized military hero when he led a surprise bombing raid on Toyko early in the war.

Under blue skies at Thursday afternoon’s outdoor show, Glen Campbell, Audrey Landers and Shirley Jones sang “Call Home,” “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to the accompaniment of a Navy band; Don Knotts played a pilot in a skit spoofing the hit film “Top Gun,” and, of course, Hope delivered his jokes to the audience of about 5,000.

The audience chuckled when Hope said, “Pilots are so macho they make Rambo look like a ballerina,” and then roared with laughter when the comedian said he saw a bumper sticker reading “Honk if You Need a Dependent” on a woman’s car in San Diego.

They didn’t crack a smile when Hope said Reagan has two right hands. The comedian said it twice before throwing up his hands: “And that was one of my big ones.”

Nearby in a recreational vehicle, Phyllis Diller waited to do her 23rd spot on a Bob Hope show. She said she changed her material only slightly to suit Doolittle.

“I considered doing my old-age stuff,” the 69-year-old comedienne said. “But since he is so much older than I am, I figured I wouldn’t use it.”

Impressionist Rich Little, who said he hadn’t done a military show since the early ‘60s, remarked by his trailer that he had “never played a parking lot before.”

He used the event to open new material written for the Fourth of July and imitated Reagan, Gen. George Patton, John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart in a tribute to America.

When the real Jimmy Stewart took the stage, an awed crowd rose from the hot asphalt and plastic chairs to applaud a man who said he was there to express his esteem for Doolittle, a racing pilot and stunt flier who pioneered new aircraft instrumentation, flew the first successful blind flight and led airmen to victory.

Stewart recalled that he flew a B-24 while under Doolittle’s command. “It wasn’t a fun war, as you remember. But it was fought by brave, courageous heroes,” he said. “And that bravery, courage and strength came from the top. All of us were inspired by his leadership.

“He had been flying almost as long as airplanes, and pioneered instrumental flying. We had confidence in a man who knew aviation as well as he did.”

Doolittle, a small man in a seersucker suit and a bolo tie clutched by a silver bear claw, watched the stage from a dais with his wife, son and grandchildren. Grandson “Jimmer” Doolittle III, who is stationed as a pilot in Korea, arrived just in time for the show.

About 160 fighter aces (to be an ace a pilot must shoot down five enemy aircraft) from around the country, including pilots who flew in the Tokyo raid, sat near the general.

During a lull in the taping, 77-year-old fighter ace Doc White brought Doolittle an aged copy of “30 Seconds Over Toyko” for the general’s autograph.

“He’s the chief. We would do anything to honor him,” said White, who came over from Palm Springs.

It was at an American Fighter Aces Assn. yearly meeting that the idea arose to stage an event for the year of the general’s 90th birthday. It coincides with the organization’s 25-year celebration, and the show kicked off a four-day convention here for the ace pilots.

Fighter ace Tom Laphier of San Diego said he called Doolittle two years ago to see if he could attend a salute in San Diego in 1986.

“He said he would be here if he were still alive, “ Laphier said. “And I told him to make the formation.”

Doolittle made it, and when he took the stage at the elaborate event staged in his honor, he was brief and diplomatic: “I’m happy to be here. And I believe the Navy and the Marines represent the best of all.”

The entire show, taped for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, will be broadcast in August, producers said.