The Doolittle Raid: America's daring first strike against Japan

Recaptures the World War II bombing raid over Tokyo under the command of Lt. Col. "Jimmy" Doolittle and the incredible seek-and-destroy mission that he and other American pilots endured after the bombing.

On April 18, 1942, 16 B-25s under the command of Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle were launched from the carrier Hornet , flew 650 miles to Japan, dropped their bombs on Tokyo and other targets, and escaped to China and neutral Soviet territory. Although a very small affair in comparison with the B-29 strikes three years later, the Doolittle raid was a severe psychological blow to Japanese military leaders and had far-reaching strategical effects. At the same time, the raid provided an electrifying boost to American morale. Glines, former editor of Professional Pilot magazine, relates this exciting story in full: the bold conception of the mission, the selection of its leader (Doolittle was known as a "master of the calculated risk"), the difficult preparations, the hair-raising "thirty seconds over Tokyo," and the ordeals of those crewmen who fell into Japanese hands in China. Glines also tells the almost unbelievable story of "the last Doolittle raider." Lt. George Barr, convinced that his liberation was an elaborate Japanese trick, was shunted around the U.S. military-medical circuit and ended up in a mental ward. Doolittle himself, by then a general, traced him, rescued him from bureaucratic oblivion, and set him firmly on the road to recovery. Photos.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.