A Book Review by JC Sullivan
Flying from the deck of the USS Hornet in april, 1942, his was the first of 16 B-25 medium bombers to lift off the deck. The mission, although inflicting minimal damage, raised the spirit of the American people, our first victory since Pearl Harbor. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
According to Wikipedia, "Doolittle was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on January 2, 1942, and assigned to Army Air Forces Headquarters to plan the first retaliatory air raid on the Japanese homeland. He volunteered for and received General H.H. Arnold's approval to lead the top-secret attack of 16 B-25 medium bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, with targets in Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya. After training at Eglin Field and Wagner Field in northwest Florida, Doolittle, his aircraft and flight crews proceeded to the McClellan Field, California for aircraft modifications at the Sacramento Air Depot, followed by a short final flight to Naval Air Station Alameda, California for embarkation aboard USS Hornet. On April 18, all the bombers successfully took off from the Hornet, reached Japan, and bombed their targets. Fifteen of the planes then headed for their recovery airfield in China, while one crew chose to land in Russia due to their bomber's unusually high fuel consumption. As did most of the other crewmen who participated in the mission, Doolittle's crew bailed out safely over China when their bomber ran out of fuel. By then they had been flying for about 12 hours, it was nighttime, the weather was stormy, and Doolittle was unable to locate their landing field. Doolittle came down in a rice paddy (saving a previously injured ankle from breaking) near Chuchow (Quzhou). He and his crew linked up after the bailout and were helped through Japanese lines by Chinese guerrillas and American missionary John Birch. Other aircrews were not so fortunate. Although most eventually reached safety with the help of friendly Chinese, four crewmembers lost their lives as a result of being captured by the Japanese and three due to aircraft crash and/or while parachuting. Doolittle went on to fly more combat missions as commander of the 12th Air Force in North Africa, for which he was awarded four Air Medals. The other surviving members of the raid also went on to new assignments".
This is the autobiography of a man who grew up in California and Alaska. Short ini stature, he made up for his lack of height with courage, guts, bravado and an indomnitable spirit.
Over the years of his career, both in and out of the service, he eventually acquired an engineering degree that made him the best of pilots AND engineers. What he is best known for, by my generation that is, is his leadership early in the war when he led his men on a bombing flight to Japan.
Flying from the deck of the USS Hornet in april, 1942, his was the first of 16 B-25 medium bombers to lift off the deck. The mission, although inflicting minimal damage, raised the spirit of the American people, our first victory since Pearl Harbor. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
According to Wikipedia, "Doolittle was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on January 2, 1942, and assigned to Army Air Forces Headquarters to plan the first retaliatory air raid on the Japanese homeland. He volunteered for and received General H.H. Arnold's approval to lead the top-secret attack of 16 B-25 medium bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, with targets in Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya. After training at Eglin Field and Wagner Field in northwest Florida, Doolittle, his aircraft and flight crews proceeded to the McClellan Field, California for aircraft modifications at the Sacramento Air Depot, followed by a short final flight to Naval Air Station Alameda, California for embarkation aboard USS Hornet. On April 18, all the bombers successfully took off from the Hornet, reached Japan, and bombed their targets. Fifteen of the planes then headed for their recovery airfield in China, while one crew chose to land in Russia due to their bomber's unusually high fuel consumption. As did most of the other crewmen who participated in the mission, Doolittle's crew bailed out safely over China when their bomber ran out of fuel. By then they had been flying for about 12 hours, it was nighttime, the weather was stormy, and Doolittle was unable to locate their landing field. Doolittle came down in a rice paddy (saving a previously injured ankle from breaking) near Chuchow (Quzhou). He and his crew linked up after the bailout and were helped through Japanese lines by Chinese guerrillas and American missionary John Birch. Other aircrews were not so fortunate. Although most eventually reached safety with the help of friendly Chinese, four crewmembers lost their lives as a result of being captured by the Japanese and three due to aircraft crash and/or while parachuting. Doolittle went on to fly more combat missions as commander of the 12th Air Force in North Africa, for which he was awarded four Air Medals. The other surviving members of the raid also went on to new assignments".
Doolittle was a colorful, daredevil of a man. The book makes for interesting reading and allows us to see what molded the man into who he became.
his is the autobiography of a man who grew up in California and Alaska. Short in stature, he made up for his lack of height with courage, guts, bravado and an indomnitable spirit.
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