Page 29 - DFCS NEWS MAGAZINE 2018-2

San Diego Chapter Welcomes Jonna Doolittle Hoppes
Granddaughter of Gen. Jimmy Doolittle Draws Large Crowd
By Chuck Sweeney
On June 12, 2018 the San Diego Lindbergh Chapter had their largest crowd in a long time at the Club House of the Admiral Baker Golf Course. The reason for the large crowd was the speaker, who didn’t disappoint the attendees with her presentation. Jonna Doolittle Hoppes really thrilled the crowd with her description of the early life of her grandfather, General Jimmy Doolittle, as well as his military achievements and the strong role that her grandmother, Josephine "Joe" E. Daniels had on his military and civilian career.
There were 70 attendees at the luncheon, which is about double the usual number of people who come. A lot of this was due to the great efforts of the Board members, including Gene Alfaro, Mike Retz, Doug Perl and of course Linda Stull.
In addition to numerous San Diego Lindbergh Chapter members in attendance, four members from the Inland Empire Chapter drove down: President Bill Baltazar, Vice President Warren Eastman and his wife Linda, and Jim Davidson.
Due to an extensive outreach effort, there were members from other organizations including the Daedalians, Pearl Harbor Survivors and Old Bold Pilots. Of course, after the presentation many people wanted to talk
Jonna Doolittle Hoppes thrilled the crowd describing exploits of her grandfather.
with Jonna and have their picture taken with her and she graciously complied with all of the requests. Some people had met her grandfather and were anxious to discuss that while some people brought copies of her books which she also signed.
Many people brought guests who never had the opportunity to hear Jonna speak previously and were really thrilled for the opportunity. A couple of these guests were Jeanne and Devin Scott from American Dream Cinema who made the great documentary “Distinguished Wings Over Vietnam” with four DFCS members as the subjects. Two other guests were Cindy and Martin Blair, owners
of the Kansas City BBQ (of “Top Gun”
Fame). Like everyone else, they all
wanted their pictures taken with
Jonna and she willingly supported the
requests.
Everyone later told me it was a great experience and they really enjoyed Jonna and her presentation. They commented that they learned a lot about her grandfather, General Jimmy Doolittle and his exploits.
L-R: Greg MacNeil, Devin Scott, Jonna Doolittle Hoppes, Chuck Sweeney and Jeanne Scott.
30 / DFCS News Magazine / WINTER 2018