Some eight decades after 16 bombers left the U.S. for a brazen bombing raid on Tokyo following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a small piece of wreckage from the squadron that became known as the Doolittle Raiders has come home to the Bay Area.

In a unique cultural exchange, The Doolittle Raid Memorial Hall in Quzhou City traded the eight-inch piece of steel ripped from a B-25 bomber named the Whirling Dervish to the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda for an original reel of 16mm film showing the Raiders training for their historic mission.

“This is shared sacrifice right here,” said George Retelas, a volunteer with the USS Hornet, holding the piece of twisted metal. “This is two countries fighting together for freedom.”

Retelas, who proposed the exchange and then traveled to China to deliver the

See Full Page