80 guys took land based bombers off of a carrier on what amounted to a one way mission to bomb Japan in revenge of the Peral Harbor raid. They were too far away to land safely anywhere and only one of them did. The rest cashed or bailed out in the dark over god knows where....
As a kid I read everything I could about the Doolittle raid, these guys' courage and character left a lasting impression on me and shaped part of my life... One of the pilots went on to get captured by the Germans and played a key role in the Great Escape-I guess a one way mission wasn't enough for him....
If you get the time go on You tube and watch some of the videos about this, especially the final toast by the last three alive....
Sorry to bore you, this day every year makes me stop and think....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxa7MOqwj-g

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When I hear how hard it is growing up today, I think of my parents an others in that era.
They were born in the mid 1920’s, grew up in the Great Depression and became adults in World War II.
The Doolittle Raiders were a great example of their generation but there were so many others at every level.
Civilians working in factories to produce the equipment and supplies, merchant marine forces that had one of the highest casualty rates of any service.
Truly an amazing thing.

My grandmother was 6. I look at my kids [3 9 & 12] & wonder what it had to be like as a kid then.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
When I hear how hard it is growing up today, I think of my parents an others in that era.
They were born in the mid 1920’s, grew up in the Great Depression and became adults in World War II.
The Doolittle Raiders were a great example of their generation but there were so many others at every level.
Civilians working in factories to produce the equipment and supplies, merchant marine forces that had one of the highest casualty rates of any service.
Truly an amazing thing.

100% agree with all of that. Americans, civilians and the military both, chipped in. Today? They are all hooked on little pieces of glass and touching it with their finger. Sad state of affairs.

The Doolittle raid is permanently etched in my memory. Learned or read it as a young kid and it always stuck. A bunch of pilots and airmen knowing they have a Sam chance in hell of making it and said f it we’re going anyway. Real American heroes.

We were reeling following the Pearl Harbor attack so it was so important to be able to demonstrate quickly that we weren't going to stand for it and that Japan would pay for what they'd done. The Doolittle raid didn't accomplish much militarily but the morale boost was much more critical to us at the time than all of the bombs dropped. The shock that the Japanese people experienced on finding that they weren't beyond our reach was important, too.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
My grandmother was 6. I look at my kids [3 9 & 12] & wonder what it had to be like as a kid then.

My dad had just turned 5 at the time of the raid and still has memories of the troubles and fears during the war. He celebrated his 87th birthday last week.

My old man was born in 1913 and rarely spoke of his childhood. During a very rare visit to his family, his sister urged him to show me where they grew up. My Dad reluctantly agreed. We then went to a tar papered shack with hogs living under the front porch. Outhouse and no electricity. He enlisted in the military in the late 1930s and was a professional soldier when the war broke out. He went all the way with Patton.
I wish he was alive today so I could tell him how much I admire and respect the way he rose from his poor circumstances and evolved into a fully vetted member of the Greatest Generation.

Thank You Gentlemen.. Each of you have touched on the sentiment I was trying to say in my post in your own way.
Sure these 80 guys did the deed, but behind them were all the Navy guys who risked getting them as close to Japan as they could, The people who designed and built the Mitchel, The Wasp had just been built, the whole country came together during that time. That generation knew what America was and saved us. I worry about the future...
Isn't it ironic that the B-25 was named after Billy Mitchel, who risked his career to further aerial bombardment and was court-martialed for it.. He gave his all in his own way..

60

When Doolittle put out his call to B-25 crews for volunteers for a suicide mission, no other details other than it was also Top Secret, everybody involved in B-25's volunteered, no questions asked. Every damn man!

Great men. They trained here at Eglin. I went to high school with Ed Horton’s daughter.