Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Dick Cole, co-pilot for Lt. Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle’s secret raid on Tokyo April 18, 1942, was given another assignment by the Air Force Sept. 19: announcing the name of the next strategic bomber, the B-21. Cole is the last living link to the mission that rallied American morale at a low point in World War II by demonstrating the ability to strike at the heart of the enemy homeland. It is only fitting, then, that the newest generation of strategic bomber bear the name “Raider.”
Source: aopaBomber named for Doolittle Raiders