A Wall of Heroes
(hattip georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov)
These 80 silver goblets commemorate the 80 men who flew the Doolittle Raid against Japan in April 1942.
At every reunion, the surviving Raiders meet privately to conduct their solemn “Goblet Ceremony.” After toasting the Raiders who died since their last meeting, they turn the deceased men’s goblets upside down. Each goblet has the Raider’s name engraved twice — so that it can be read if the goblet is right side up or upside down. When there are only two Raiders left, these two men will drink one final toast to their departed comrades using the 1896 Hennessy kept in the center.
Apparently there are four still alive, but just a month ago, in April, they decided to hold one final anniversary and toast using the Hennessy later this year between the four of them, rather than wait for it to just be two.
And some people think a hero is just a sandwich.