DAYTON, Ohio -- The national U.S. Air Force museum plans to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders' stunning attack on Japan with the participation of the last surviving airman who flew on the historic raid in April 1942.

The museum near Dayton, Ohio, says 101-year-old retired Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" Cole, of Comfort, Texas, plans to return for April 17-18 events, expected to include B-25 bomber landings. The Dayton-area native will help pay tribute to retired Staff Sgt. David Thatcher, who died this year at age 94 in Missoula, Mont.

Thatcher joined Cole at the museum in 2015 to present the Raiders' Congressional Gold Medal for display.

They were the last of those who took off from the Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet for the raid that lifted U.S. spirits and forced the Japanese military to realize its homeland was vulnerable to attack.