Chapter by Dax
August 15, 1945.
The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito himself.
After two atom bombs were dropped on two small cities, the Emperor having thought long and hard about the lives of all his people, gave the order to surrender to the mighty Untied States of America. Interestingly enough, he told them to surrender without using the word "Surrender."
Instead, he had simply asked them to,
"Endure the Unbearable."
Word of Japan's surrender had spread faster then the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor at the start of the war. People were running out of their homes crying and leaping with joy that the war was at last over. Soldiers who were still recovering only prayed silently and thanked the All Mighty for giving them their well earned victory.
Such as the remnants of Liberty Squadron.
Hickam Airfield, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
King, Rex, Sam, Dax stood outside the bar that they had been going to since before the war, it was time to honer the two fallen pilots. As Dax pushed the door open, he and his three comrades were greeted with cheering from fellow pilots, along with the branches of the armed forces of America.
Lt. Colonel Eve "Mama Bear" Maverick walked up with tray with four shots of the best whiskey the place had to offer. "To our heroes of the skies!" she proclaimed raising her glass.
Her daughter, Kate raised her glass. "To our fallen rouges! May they dance with the angels in Heaven."
Claws and Terra both raised their glasses.
"May the fallen Devils still party like its 1925!" they said in unison.
Then all the pilots, soldiers, sailors and Marines raised their glasses. "To victory!" they all shouted, then downed their drinks.
But, Dax didn't feel like partying, well, not with these guys at least. So, being a gentleman, he excused himself from the bar and made his way back to his beloved Sweets place. When he arrived, he was very concerned to see a doctor leaving the house. With great haste, the silver wolf ran into the master bedroom. There, sitting beside the bed was Sweets, caring for a very happy, but tired Delilah who had just given birth to a healthy baby wolf.
"Hello, Dax," Delilah said softly as she cuddled her pup. "I wish you had been here sooner, but then again, you might have fainted," she teased.
Dax felt his eyes fill with tears. "He looks just like his father," he said admiring the color of fur the pup was sporting.
Sweets then looked over at her boyfriend. "I'm pregnant," she said, hoping that he would be happy, but…
"Oh, boy," Dax groaned before fainting.
Tokyo Japan, September 2, 1945.
Lilly arrived at a small house just outside the city of Tokyo. When some of the locals saw her, they showed no interest in talking to her, especially since the U.S.S. Missouri was docked out int he harbor, the stage for the formal Japanese surrender. But the lovely she-wolf walked up to the front door and knocked. She waited for only a minute when an older woman stepped out to greet her.
"Is this the home of Shingo Minako?" she asked the woman.
"I am his step-mother, Myko Minako," she said giving Lilly a traditional greeting. "Tell me, what business does an American pilot have with my family?"
Lilly pulled out Shingo's journal and handed it to Myko. "Shingo was a friend and before he died, gave me instructions on where to take this." The lovely pilot could see Myko tearing up as she held her step-son's journal close to her heart. The grief stricken woman looked up at Lilly.
"It would honor me with you would stay for some tea, so I may know how he died," she said trying not to break down at the loss of her wonderful step-son.
"I would love to," Lilly replied and went inside.
Once inside, Lilly met Shingo's baby sister, who had just turned four. The little girl mostly kept her distance from the lovely pilot, but quickly warmed up to her. Then Myko brought the tea she was willing to share.
Lilly not only got to have some of the best tea she had ever tasted, but she was also gifted with some very fine perfumes before leaving. It was strange, but Myko showed no hate or distrust of Lilly coming under her roof, even after Japan had lost the war.
Some Time Later...
When Lilly returned to America, she and Garth decided to tie the knot and get married. After a few months of calling in favors and pulling a few strings, Lilly and Garth were at last going to get married, but so were Kate and Humphrey. The marriage ended up being a double wedding where all four wolves tied the knot.
However, Lilly would never be able to have kids. It turns out that Lilly was barren. She was heart broken when the terrible news reached her, but soon, she found another calling in life. Adult entertainment. The lovely pilot found her true calling when she saw an add in the news paper asking for women to become something known as strippers. Lilly lead a very sinful life after that day, entertaining random men left and right, but she never had sex with any of them.
No matter what, no man could ever pleasure her like Garth could.
Garth never approved of Lilly's new job, but he soon changed his mind when Lilly brought him home a one of the girls from the club on his birthday. Lilly had convinced her fellow stripper to let Garth get her pregnant so he and Lilly could have their own baby. Not long after that, Lilly and Garth had a son, but sadly lost him three months later to a very bad case of the flu.
Garth stayed married to Lilly until she died during a peace march during the Vietnam War. After her death, Garth rejoined the air force to fight in the war. He was never seen again after that.
As for Kate and Humphrey, the two of them had three wonderful children. Two boys and one girl. Humphrey got a job working the front desk of a hotel while Kate was a stay at home mom. They lived a healthy life style until Humphrey sadly passed away at the age of sixty after fighting lung cancer. Kate never remarried and continued to teach and care for her children.
She still lives to this day.
King and Eve married the year following the war, and remained married until King died of a heart attack in 1975 at the age of 76. Eve never again remarried, and died in 1982 at the age of 81, making her the third member of Angel Squadron, following Claws, who was killed in action during the Korean War, and Candy, who died in 1978 from complications of being exposed to Agent Orange during Vietnam.
Following the loss of his son, Cody fell into a crippling depression from which he never recovered.
He took his own life in 1948.
He had just turned 50.
Following Cody's death, Rex and Elise founded an organization that helped veterans with Post Traumatic Stress, calling it the Lieutenant O'Conner Veteran's Fund, a origination within Veterans Affairs which provides more aid to struggling veterans. The two be in charge of the fund until Rex's passing in 1999 at 98.
Elsie still lives to this day.
Dax married Sweets, but sadly he continued to have flashbacks of the war, and ended up hurting Sweets badly one day. But, his beloved never hated him for that, instead she used some of her savings to build a garden that helped Dax find great ways to relax. The two of them lived the rest of their lives in peace and happiness, with Delilah and her baby at their side. But when U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began, Dax joined back up. He survived the war and returned home safely to the two women he loved them most.
In 2013, the newly widowed Dax was invited to the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio to take part in one final toast honoring the Doolittle Raiders who had died during the mission, and had since died, including Link, who was killed in the closing months of the war. A bottle of cognac, purchased for Colonel Doolittle's 60th Birthady, was opened for the first time, and the four surviving pilots drank from the silver chalices stamped with their names, four of many that had been ordered for the same reason.
In attendance was Sam and Terra, with their son and his children, and there children, a boy they had named after two very brave men,
Cain Hutchinson Davis, who had just turned 65.
Terra passed away later that month at 91, followed by her loving husband of 67 years two years later at 95.
Dax died in 2019, two mouths before his 100th Birthday, making him the last member of Liberty Squadron to die.
Lt. Col Richard E. "Dick" Cole, the co-pilot of Doolitle himself, was the last surviving Raider.
He died two months after Dax at the age of 103.
Before the Doolittle Raid, America knew nothing but defeat. After, she gained hope.
Japan realized, for the first time, that they could lose and began to pull back.
America realized that she would win and surged forward.
It was a war that changed everything.
World War II, for us, began at Pearl Harbor, and 1,177 men and women still lie entombed in the battleship Arizona.
America suffered, but America grew stronger.
It was not inevitable.
The times tried our souls...and through the trial, we overcame.