63rd Reunion Schedule of Events
Thursday, April 14
11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Westside Middle School, Groton
Not open to the public
Several Raiders will arrive early to lunch with students at Westside Middle School, Groton, followed by a program in the school’s auditorium.
2:00 p.m.
AVCRAD
Groton New London Airport, Groton
Not open to the public
Past and future heroes meet.
Colonel William Shea will officially greet the Raiders and introduce them to recently returned Connecticut troops from Iraq.
The 1109th AVCRAD is one of only four military companies specializing in helicopter repair and maintenance; it was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in March 2003.
Public festivities begin with a special reception at the City of Groton Municipal Building
6:00 p.m.
City of Groton Municipal Building
Shuttle parking – follow signs
Ticket holders -- $25.00
Handicapped accessible
Enjoy tasty hors d’ oeuvres and mingle with the Raiders at their first public function in Connecticut.
Friday, April 15
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Leamy Hall, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London
Limited parking is available with additional parking at Connecticut College (follow signs)
Free Event and open to the public
Handicapped accessible
The public is invited to join the Raiders, Coast Guard Cadets and area school children at Leamy Hall Ballroom on the beautiful campus of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. A program with author C.V. Glines, the Raiders’ official biographer, and author Stan Cohen will discuss the Doolittle Raid. Doolittle souvenirs will be on sale in the lobby.
The public is invited to visit the Coast Guard Museum and tour the lovely campus on the banks of the Thames River.
The campus of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is one of great beauty and high technology. Classic redbrick halls blend with sleek modern structures, surrounded by sweeping views of the sea and the sky.
As you enter the main gate, you see Hamilton Hall, the handsome administrative center named for Alexander Hamilton, father of the U.S. Coast Guard and a founding father of our nation. Next, Chase Hall dormitory and wardroom, where all cadets reside.
Don’t forget to visit the Coast Guard Museum where there will be a special exhibit.
Also don’t miss the Coast Guard Memorial Chapel, an interdenominational house of worship, a reminder of the sacrifices Coast Guard members have made for their country. Nearby Crown Park is home to the War and Conflicts Memorial and other monuments marking the proud history of the Coast Guard in our nation's service.
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Reception and Lunch at the Officer's Club
Private Event
Local military VIPs and government officials meet privately with the Raiders for lunch
The public can tour the Barque Eagle, the Coast Guard Training Ship, after 2:30 p.m. at Fort Trumbull, New London. The vessel is not handicapped accessible.
The Barque EAGLE, the largest Tall Ship flying the Stars and Stripes and the only square-rigger in U.S. government service, is the seventh U.S. Coast Guard cutter to bear the name in a proud line dating back to 1792. The ship was built in 1936 by the Blohm und Voss Shipyard In Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned as HORST WESSEL, one of three sail training ships operated by Nazi Germany to train cadets for the growing German Navy. Five identical ships were built in Germany and are collectively known as the "five sisters", they include: Tovarisch (Russia), Sagres II (Portugal), Mircea (Romania), and Gorch Fock II (Germany). Early in World War II EAGLE was converted to a cargo ship, transporting men and supplies throughout the Baltic Sea, but continued to perform a training mission as well. The ship is said to have downed three aircraft in combat during this period. Following World War II, it was taken as a war prize by the United States and a U.S. Coast Guard crew -- aided by the German crew still on board -- sailed the tall ship in 1946 from Bremerhaven to its new homeport in New London, Connecticut.
3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Hamilton hall
Cadet Pre-Review Reception
Open to cadets only and Military VIPs only
4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
USCG Academy Green
Cadet Review
Open to the Public
Free Event
Cadets will do a review for Military VIPs, cadets and the public.
6:00 p.m.
Autograph Party for dinner ticket holders only
Groton Inn & Suites, Groton
Open to the Public
Handicapped accessible
(Additional parking is available in the Wal-Mart parking lot)
Join us for an autograph party where you’ll have a chance to meet the Raiders face-to-face. Many books and souvenirs will be available for purchase, and the Raiders will be available for autographs. All proceeds of the book sales and souvenirs will go to the Doolittle Raiders Scholarship Fund.
Noted historian and author C.V. Glines will also be available to autograph copies of his books on the Doolittle Raid. C.V. Glines, official Raider historian, is the author of The Doolittle Raid and I Could Never Be So Lucky Again, Doolittle’s biography. These books will be available for purchase along with other memorabilia. This is an opportunity that you won’t want to miss.
Book singings will end promptly at 7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
Steamship Round Buffet
Groton Inn & Suites
Open to the Public – individual tickets are $50.
Join the Raiders for a special Steamship Round Buffet that’s made the restaurant a local favorite for decades.
Saturday, April 16
11:30 a.m.
Liberty Pole Square, Historic Downtown Mystic
Free and open to the public
Join Mystic Boy Scout Troop 76 at Historic Downtown Mystic’s Liberty Pole Square as the American flag is raised over Mystic on the 117 foot Liberty Pole, where it has been displayed since 1864. Connecticut Congressman Rob Simmons will share some thoughts, and the ceremony will conclude with an A-10 flyover.
Lunch on your own in Historic Downtown Mystic at award-winning restaurants, and shop at over 60 unique boutiques, or travel to Olde Mistick Village, Rt. 27 and Coogan Blvd. for lunch at several great restaurants and another 60 tempting shops.
Noon
VIP Lunch at S&P Oyster Company, Mystic
This event is for VIP ticket holders only
This event is not handicapped accessible
Join the Raiders for a traditional New England lunch along the banks of the Mystic River, in Historic Downtown Mystic at S&P Oyster Company overlooking the Mystic River and historic bascule drawbridge. Lunch is followed by a cruise up river aboard the Valiant. It is an eye-catching, 97-foot-long, 20-foot-wide replica of a 1925 yacht also called Valiant. The yacht boasts a main salon complete with wood panels, Oriental rugs, 1920s-style furniture, and a bar; a galley; two large decks; and a sun deck. Valiant will be followed by a small flotilla and the Kingston II Mystic Seaport tug.
2:00 p.m.
Chubbs Wharf, Mystic Seaport: Museum of America & the Sea, Mystic
Open to the public with a Mystic Seaport ticket
Check with the Seaport to see which exhibits are handicapped accessible
Catch up to the Raiders as they are greeted at Chubbs' Wharf on the grounds of Mystic Seaport: Museum of America & the Sea where they will be welcomed with the old fashioned sounds of the Noank & Mystic Community Band, and greeted by Retired Rear Admiral Douglas Teeson, president and director of Mystic Seaport.
Mystic Seaport has plans for several Doolittle-related activities including showing the night sky over Japan on April 19, 1942 in the Seaport Planetarium. Don’t forget to shop at the Museum Store where the largest collection of maritime books is sold, along with museum quality works of art in the Maritime Gallery, and other sea-related novelties. Mystic Seaport tickets are $16, or included in your three-day-ticket price.
2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Seamen’s Inne, Greenmanville Ave., Mystic
Autograph party
Free and open to the public
Handicapped accessible
Join us in the River Room for an autograph party where you’ll have a chance to meet the Raiders face-to-face. Many books and souvenirs will be available for purchase, and the Raiders will be available for autographs. All proceeds of the book sales and souvenirs will go to the Doolittle Raiders Scholarship Fund.
Noted historian and author C.V. Glines will also be available to autograph copies of his books on the Doolittle Raid. C.V. Glines, official Raider historian, is the author of The Doolittle Raid and I Could Never Be So Lucky Again, Doolittle’s biography. These books will be available for purchase along with other memorabilia. This is an opportunity that you won’t want to miss.
7:00 p.m.
A Raider Soiree
LanMar Aviation Hangar
Groton New London Airport
Open to ticket holders – limited seating so call early
Tickets are $85.00
Handicapped accessible
Shuttle parking available at the Groton New London Airport
The fabulous forties are back with big band sounds at the beautiful hanger at LanMar Aviation Building among several vintage aircraft. Dinner and cash bar.
History you can touch:
Retired Rear Admiral Douglas Teeson, President and Director of the world-class maritime museum Mystic Seaport: Museum of America and the Sea will be the keynote speaker at this celebration. Admiral Teeson will discuss the significance of the event and relate it to the big picture in the history of our country and the sea. C.V. Glines will introduce each Raider, and dignitaries will present gifts and proclamations.
Sunday, April 17
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Tour of U.S. Naval Submarine Base Groton-New London
Doolittle’s only
Noon
Submarine Nautilus Museum, Groton
The museum is free and open to the public at 11:00 a.m. Raiders to arrive at 12:30 p.m.
Limited handicapped accessible aboard the ship.
Tour Historic Ship Nautilus and Submarine Force Museum. USS NAUTILUS SSN 571 (1954) was the Navy's first nuclear-powered vessel and the fourth ship in the Navy to bear the name. Touring her is an adventure. She was also the world's first ship to reach the geographic North Pole. The museum traces the 50-year history of America’s Silent Service and houses one of the largest collections of submarine battle flags from WWII.
2:30 p.m.– 4:30 p.m.
Autograph Party
Groton Inn & Suites, Groton
Open to the public
Handicapped accessible
This is the last opportunity to have your World War II memorabilia and books signed by the Raiders and authors C.V. Glines and Stan Cohen.
Join us for an autograph party where you’ll have a chance to meet the Raiders face-to-face. Many books and souvenirs will be available for purchase, and the Raiders will be available for autographs. All proceeds of the book sales and souvenirs will go to the Doolittle Raiders Scholarship Fund.
Noted historian and author C.V. Glines will also be available to autograph copies of his books on the Doolittle Raid. C.V. Glines, official Raider historian, is the author of The Doolittle Raid and I Could Never Be So Lucky Again, Doolittle’s biography. These books will be available for purchase along with other memorabilia. This is an opportunity that you won’t want to miss.
6:30 p.m.
PT-109 Exhibit
Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration
Open To The Public
Tickets are $35.00
Handicapped accessible
Host Dr. Stepehn Cuan. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres served in this unique exhibit surrounded by the story of J.F.K. and the historic PT-109 exhibit. Explore the fact and legend behind the famous boat John F. Kennedy piloted in World War II and the Dr. Robert Ballard expedition that found it.
This is the last chance to meet the Raiders and bid them farewell.
Tickets:
Tickets go on sale March 1, 2005, at the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce. Free public events are planned along with limited VIP-Only packages. Reserve your tickets early as some venues have limited seating available.
For ticket information call Bridget at the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce at 1(866)572-9578, ext. 107
Three-day Public Events Ticket $210 each
Includes:
•Welcome Reception and Steamship Round Buffet
•Saturday evening Banquet: The Raider Soiree
•Mystic Seaport: Museum of America and the Sea
•Farewell Reception at Mystic Aquarium
Free Events:
Leamy Hall lecture at USCG Academy
Coast Guard Review
Liberty Pole Square Dedication
Autograph Parties at Groton Inn & Suites and the Seamen’s Inne
Tour of the Submarine Nautilus
