Tales of World War II hero shared at Sonoma Memorial Day ceremony

The granddaughter of World War II hero James “Jimmy” Doolittle urged veterans in Sonoma Monday to share experiences from their military service and “pass on from one generation to the next the stories of how our freedom was purchased.”

Jonna Doolittle Hoppes was the featured speaker at Sonoma’s annual Memorial Day observance. She is the author of a book on her grandfather, the air commander who led an audacious bombing attack on the Japanese home islands just four months after Pearl Harbor.

Hoppes said she took part Monday “because I believe with all my heart that we can’t forget.”

Her eyes lit up when a well-wisher spoke of meeting the late Frank Albert Kappeler, a Santa Rosan who during World War II had been a member of the 80 Doolittle Raiders that attacked Japan on April 18, 1942.

“They were my uncles,” Hoppes said of the surviving raiders. In visits to her grandfather after the war, they would call Doolittle “Boss” and her grandmother Josephine “Mama Joe.”

Hoppes spoke Monday to a crowd of more than 1,000 at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Park. The day provided an opportunity to honor the living and to remember the dead.

It began with a march of veterans, where former service members advanced together to the podium according to their military branches: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. The Sonoma Hometown Band played the military anthem for each branch as the vets stepped forward.

Later, family members with relatives in active service and those who had lost loved ones in the course of duty came to the podium and received a standing ovation from the audience.

The master of ceremonies, William E. Peacock, a retired Marine Corps colonel from Redwood City, pointed to the three dozen family members before him and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, you have seen the heart of America here.”

Also honored was 90-year-old Warren Mufich of Napa, who as a Marine infantryman had fought in the World War II battles of Guam and Iwo Jima.

“Just happy to be alive,” Mufich told the crowd, adorned in his olive military jacket. After the ceremony, his eyes moistened when a young Marine in dress uniform and other well-wishers came to shake his hand.

The gathering, which included a complimentary hamburger lunch cooked by the Sonoma Valley Rotary, has taken place for 58 years.

But event chairman Robert Leonard said its popularity exploded 11 years ago after Navy Veteran Jim Parks donated the funds to build a monument at the park called the “Star of Honor.” The black granite monument with a five-point star includes the names of deceased Sonoma Valley veterans over the centuries, including Capt. William Smith, believed to be the only veteran from the American Revolutionary War buried in California.

Another name inscribed upon it belongs to Henry “Hap” Arnold, the first five-star general in the U.S. Air Force and the namesake for Arnold Drive in the Valley of the Moon. After World War II, Doolittle visited Arnold’s ranch here, as did other high-ranking military leaders, Leonard said.

Doolittle’s daring raid was portrayed in the 2001 movie “Pearl Harbor.” His attack force involved 16 B-25 bombers, all taking off from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

The raid was heralded as a strong morale boost for the U.S. and a demonstration that Japan was vulnerable to attack.

Seven raiders failed to return alive, including three executed by the Japanese, Hobbes said Monday.

After ditching his plane in China, Doolittle initially “felt the mission was a failure,” she said. Instead, her grandfather was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and promoted two ranks to brigadier general.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @rdigit

The granddaughter of World War II hero James “Jimmy” Doolittle urged veterans in Sonoma on Monday to share experiences from their military service and “pass on from one generation to the next the stories of how our freedom was purchased.”

Jonna Doolittle Hoppes was the featured speaker at Sonoma’s annual Memorial Day observance. She is the author of a book on her grandfather, the air commander who led an audacious bombing attack on the Japanese home islands just four months after Pearl Harbor.

Hoppes said she took part Monday “because I believe with all my heart that we can’t forget.”

Her eyes lit up when a well-wisher spoke of meeting the late Frank Albert Kappeler, a Santa Rosan who during World War II had been a member of the 80 Doolittle Raiders who attacked Japan on April 18, 1942, and escaped via China.

“They were my uncles,” Hoppes said of the surviving raiders. In visits to her grandfather after the war, they would call Doolittle “Boss” and her grandmother Josephine “Mama Joe.”

Hoppes spoke Monday to a crowd of more than 1,000 at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Park. The day provided an opportunity to honor the living and to remember the dead.

It began with a march of veterans, where former service members advanced together to the podium according to their military branches: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. The Sonoma Hometown Band played the military anthem for each branch as the vets stepped forward.

Later, family members with relatives in active service and those who had lost loved ones in the course of duty came to the podium and received a standing ovation from the audience.

The master of ceremonies, William E. Peacock, a retired Marine Corps colonel from Redwood City, pointed to the three dozen family members before him and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, you have seen the heart of America here.”

Also honored was 90-year-old Warren Mufich of Napa, who as a Marine infantryman had fought in the World War II battles of Guam and Iwo Jima.

“Just happy to be alive,” Mufich told the crowd, adorned in his olive military jacket. After the ceremony, his eyes moistened when a young Marine in dress uniform and other well-wishers came to shake his hand.

The gathering, which included a complimentary hamburger lunch cooked by the Sonoma Valley Rotary, has taken place for 58 years.

But event chairman Robert Leonard said its popularity exploded 11 years ago after Navy Veteran Jim Parks donated the funds to build a monument at the park called the “Star of Honor.” The black granite monument with a five-point star includes the names of deceased Sonoma Valley veterans over the centuries, including Capt. William Smith, believed to be the only veteran from the American Revolutionary War buried in California.

Another name inscribed upon it belongs to Henry “Hap” Arnold, the first five-star general in the United States Air Force and the namesake for Arnold Drive in the Valley of the Moon. After World War II, Doolittle visited Arnold’s ranch here, as did other high-ranking military leaders, Leonard said.

Doolittle’s daring raid was portrayed in the 2001 movie “Pearl Harbor.” His attack force involved ?16 B-25 bombers, all taking off from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

The raid was a strong morale boost for the U.S. and a demonstration that Japan was vulnerable to attack.

Seven raiders failed to return alive, including three executed by the Japanese, Hobbes said Monday.

After ditching his plane in China, Doolittle initially “felt the mission was a failure,” she said. Instead, her grandfather was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and promoted two ranks to brigadier general.