Distinguished Member of ‘Doolittle’s Raid’ to Speak at UA Army ROTC Military Ball

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Army ROTC will hold its annual Military Ball Friday, March 14, at 6 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Ballroom.

Thomas C. Griffin, who participated in Doolittle’s Raid during World War II, will be the guest speaker.

Griffin graduated from UA in 1939 and was commissioned from the Alabama Corps of Cadets as a second lieutenant in the Coastal Artillery. He was later re-commissioned in the Army Air Corps as a navigator. Griffin’s awards include a Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and the Chinese Army, Navy and Air Corps Medal.

Griffin will speak publicly in the Ferguson Theater Thursday, March 13, at 5 p.m. A reception in the Ferguson Gallery at 4 p.m. will precede the event. The UA Air Force ROTC is co-sponsoring the event with the Scabbard and Blade Honor Society of the UA Army ROTC.

The Military Ball includes a formal dinner and a ball for military members of an organization or unit. The cadets will proceed through a receiving line where they will be formally introduced with their dates. The senior cadets and their dates will be officially announced as they walk through a saber arch provided by members of the junior class.

In April 1942, Griffin was serving on active duty in the Pacific. The situation on the warfront was grim for the United States — much of the Pacific had fallen to the Japanese. President Roosevelt and his advisers conceived a plan to deliver a much-needed victory to the American military. The mission, that came to be known as “Doolittle’s Raid” in honor of the commander Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, was planned in secrecy. Doolittle selected 80 men, including Griffin, to bomb Japan in an extremely dangerous mission. The mission was ultimately successful and helped the nation to win the war.

After the raid, Griffin escaped from China and rejoined the newly promoted Brig. Gen. Doolittle’s 12 Air Force and fought in North Africa. He was later shot down over Sicily and spent the rest of the war captured in a German POW camp.

The raid has been featured in several books and movies, including the classic “30 Seconds Over Tokyo,” and most recently in “Pearl Harbor.” Griffin was featured in an episode of Oliver North’s “War Stories.” He also recently participated in a Sino-American Friendship Tour and testified before Congress.