Two weeks after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor , President Franklin D. Roosevelt called a meeting to discuss an American reprisal against Japan.

An audacious plan was hatched: Launch B-25 Mitchell bombers from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet for a raid on Tokyo. The mission was led by an equally audacious pilot, Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, 45, who was famous for setting endurance and speed records in the 1920s and 1930s.

The April 18, 1942, mission, although inflicting little damage, shocked the Japanese and gave America a boost after a series of Pacific defeats.

In the right-hand seat of Doolittle's B-25 was Dick Cole. Cole idolized Doolittle, and Doolittle trusted his co-pilot, writes Jonna Doolittle Hoppes, the aviator's granddaughter, in her book, "Calculated Risk. The Extraordinary Life of Jimmy Doolittle — Aviation Pioneer and World War II hero."

Only 12 of the original 80 "Doolittle Raiders" are still alive.

Cole, 92, appeared at the Pacific Aviation Museum — Pearl Harbor last week, was a guest at the museum's one-year anniversary dinner on Thursday, was a panelist with Hoppes and her father, retired Air Force Col. John Doolittle (Jimmy Doolittle's son), and is signing autographs through today at the museum.

"He was a wonderful person. He was a very modest person," said John Doolittle, now 85, of his famous father. "If you wanted to find out things he accomplished, you'd have to ask questions."

Jimmy Doolittle died in 1993 at age 96.

The museum on Thursday had recorded 95,934 visitors, and is about to embark on a national fundraising campaign to try to raise $75 million over the next four years to expand into two other historic hangars on Ford Island.

Cole, who lives in Texas, talked about the historic mission, which was launched 300 miles to 400 miles farther from targets in Tokyo than planned when a Japanese picket ship spotted the U.S. ships.

Retired Air Force Col. Carroll Glines wrote in a foreword to Hoppes' book that Doolittle was known in aviation circles as the "master of the calculated risk" because he always carefully considered the risks involved in flying.

He believed, according to Hoppes, that all 16 crews could deliver their payload of bombs, refuel, and turn over their planes to the 10th Air Force in Burma.

Then the Japanese picket ship was spotted, the mission was launched sooner than planned, and an already dangerous mission became more so.

After the bombing run, Doolittle's B-25 ran out of fuel over China, and the crew bailed out. Both Doolittle and Cole landed safely and were taken in by Chinese. He remained in China and India flying cargo.

Of the 80 men who took part in the raid, three were killed during the mission, according to the Air Force. Five were interned in Russia, and eight became prisoners of war in Japan.

Following are Cole's thoughts on the mission, 65 years later.

Q. What was that moment like when the B-25 left the deck of the aircraft carrier? Did you think it would fly?

A. We had taken off from a dry runway (at Eglin Field in Florida), and we were pretty confident that we could take off loaded like we were.

Q. You had never flown a B-25 off a carrier before?

A. No, but while the Hornet was on a shakedown cruise out of Norfolk, they had placed two B-25s on the Hornet and they successfully took off to prove it could be done.

Q. What was it like to be flying with Jimmy Doolittle?

A. For me, it was a very high honor to be sitting next to my childhood idol.

Q. Were you optimistic at each step, or did you think, "Boy, I'm not going to survive this."

A. First off, I was scared like everybody else and apprehensive and wondering what was going to happen. But I don't remember having any drastic ideas about what was going to happen. I wasn't particularly worried about takeoff because I was flying with the best pilot.

Q. What did you face on the mission?

A. We were able to take off and complete our bombing run. Through the good grace of Mother Nature and the man upstairs, we ended up with a tailwind that gave us an opportunity to make it all the way to China. On the bombing run, we did have intense anti-aircraft fire, but it wasn't accurate.

Q. When you were over Japan, did you have confidence you would make it out?

A. Yes, and the reason was, even though the picket ship had sent a message back, they decided to wait for confirmation, which wasn't about to come because the destroyer Nashville had sunk it.

Q. How well did that confidence hold up?

A. Our confidence was shaken after we left Japan and flew for a while. Hank Potter, the navigator, passed a note up saying that according to his figures, we were going to be somewhere around 130, 140 miles short of the China coast, based on what he knew. What we didn't know was that the thick storm over China had developed a tailwind that made it possible for us to make it all the way to China.

Q. You had never done a parachute jump before?

A. The same storm that was on the good news side got us there, but it also, on the bad news side, alleviated any possibility of our making a landing because it was socked in everywhere. It was night and the storm was pretty violent. We had no alternative but to fly till we ran out of fuel.

Q. What was it like to avenge Pearl Harbor?

A. I think for all of us it was a form of vengeance, or payback.

Q. When did you find out how successful you were?

A. It came years later. I don't know about other people, but I was a pretty naive second lieutenant. I didn't realize the psychological potency that the mission had.

Q. When did that strike home?

A. Actually, it wasn't until later on when we did get to come home. I didn't get to come home with the first group. As a matter of fact, there were about 20 of us, we were supposed to get to come home, but the orders got placed in File 13, and something happened, and we stayed over there.

Q. What was Jimmy Doolittle like?

A. He was a very intriguing person, very charming, very humble, very quiet. Although he was short in stature, he was big in accomplishments. I would say a giant in accomplishments. He treated everybody with respect and he led by example.

Q. What's it like to be in a museum with a B-25 and a mannequin likeness of Jimmy Doolittle?

A. First off, I'm very happy that I'm here. Second, it brings back a lot of pleasant memories.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.