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19/04/2022 12:30 am
80 years ago today, Lt. Col. James Doolittle (later Lt. General and Medal of Honor recipient) led 16 twin-engine B-25 Army Air Force bombers off the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Hornet for a stunning surprise raid against Tokyo and several other targets in Japan. The raid did not cause widespread material damage but the "30 seconds over Tokyo" was a incredible U.S. morale booster which shocked the Japanese and helped lead to some fatal decisions in regard to the island of Midway.
Doolittle was the pilot of the first plane off the Hornet and had 467 feet to get his land bomber into the air from the Navy carrier. Many of the crew members survived the raid, but some were captured by the enemy and treated very badly or executed. All of these guys are true heroes and I believe all are now no longer with us.
19/04/2022 3:24 am
Incredible example of resourcefulness and courage, thanks for the notification Mike.
19/04/2022 9:06 am
Thanks Mike. I read the book when I was a kid.
I thought the movie was excellent too. I haven't looked it up yet but I thought that James Whitmore played General Doolittle.
19/04/2022 9:11 am
It was Spencer Tracey. And, the last living survivor of the raid passed in 2019 at the age of 103 ! I was surprised to find out that the movie was made in 1944. I thought it was much newer.
19/04/2022 9:32 am
Great physical and planning feat for those desperate times and great morale booster for the American public. It was a one way trip to China but worth the effort.
John Kuvakas and John Kuvakas reacted
19/04/2022 11:05 am
Believe I just read the last of their goblets was turned upside down with the death of the last Raider in 2017.
here’s a salute to Col. Doolittle and his crews….
19/04/2022 12:32 pm
An excellent example of heroism from the greatest generation.
19/04/2022 12:52 pm
Bold, daring, heroic describe this raid. For those of you who might want to read more about this, I recommend two books. The first is "The Doolittle Raid 1942 America's First Strike Back at Japan", by Clayton K S Chun. The second is "I Could Never Be So Lucky Again: An Autobiography of James H Doolittle".
In 2013 I visited the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor. Here are some photos from the exhibit which includes a B-25 restored with markings of one of the raiders. The artwork on front of the fuselage is from the plane named Ruptured Duck. This was piloted by Ted Lawson, whose story is told in the book and movie "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".
My last picture shows a 1/48 scale model of Doolittle's B-25. I made it from a Revell kit in the early 1990's. The original kit was released in the late 1960's. For a size comparison, I also show a 1/43 scale WMCE 1941 Buick convertible.
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA