The Doolittle Raid, video

[Texas Star]

YouTube - General Jimmy Doolittle Talks About the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo


This video includes original footage of the B-25's launching in heavy waves. Note that the accompanying destroyer next to USS Hornet actually submerges the bow as it rolls in heavy seas!

Also seen is Gen. Doolittle (MH) in his later years, recalling how this heroic event unfolded.


This is well worth watching. These men were among the greatest American heroes of all time. April 18 will be the anniversary of their valiant deed. Please remember them.

May God always provide us with men like these, in our hour of need. Through their valor, our nation survives.

T-Star

 

[semperfi71]

I saw the movie "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" as a kid and that started my interest in the actual history of the men and the raid. And the B-25.

Further study of WWII history has made me realize just how brave ALL of the men who served aboard the ships that sailed to Japan were. A daring deed at that time.

Add to that the extreme bravery of the men who flew the mission. Departing the Hornet from 600 miles out instead of 300 miles out meant that most likely they would have to ditch in the sea out from the China coast. However most all of them did indeed make the Chinese mainland.

The intention of the raid was strictly propaganda for the American public and to try to strike a little fear into the Japanese. It actually had larger consequences. I read somewhere that the Japanese Army was so embarrassed, and concerned about the raid, that they withdrew 2/3 of their air force back to the Japanese mainland for the rest of the war.

This consequence required the Japanese Navy to carry the lion's share of aviation combat and they lost a great number of their best airmen at Midway. The Japanese Army had some very fine, quality fighter aircraft that could compete with and above the Japanese Navy Zero. But the majority of them went to the mainlands.

I am speaking from poor memory but I also think I read that somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 Chinese people died at the hands of the Japanese in their search for the surviving "Raiders".

I know that we have men, and women, of that caliber today. Sadly our politicians use them rudely and unwisely though.

 

[cmort666]

The intention of the raid was strictly propaganda for the American public and to try to strike a little fear into the Japanese. It actually had larger consequences. I read somewhere that the Japanese Army was so embarrassed, and concerned about the raid, that they withdrew 2/3 of their air force back to the Japanese mainland for the rest of the war.

It also embarrassed Yamamoto and the IJN, who thought that they'd let the Emperor down by allowing U.S. ships to get that close to Japan. That caused them to react like Marty McFly being called a coward, which cost them dearly at Midway. Between our reading their coded message traffic and their increasingly ad hoc "strategy", it was all downhill for them from there.

 

[USAFret]

My wife & I had the pleasure of meeting and having dinner with Gen & Mrs Doolittle back when I was assigned to Los Angeles Air Force Station in the early 70's. The nicest people that you would ever wish to meet. He was gentle, quiet and soft spoken. Not what I would have expected of a genuine Medal of Honor winning war hero who had also achieved such remarkable aviation feats. Makes me reflect that the concept of the 'Greatest Generation' really has a lot of truth to it.

 

[semperfi71]

cmort666, correct and I forgot that part.

The reality of WWII in the Pacific was that the United States (at the topmost levels of command) had no doubt we would defeat the Japanese. But the loss of two battleships at Pearl Harbor, and the temporary loss of the others was a temporary set-back.

Later in the war the most fearsome question was that after Tarawa, Peleiu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa (to mention a few) would the United States civilian population be able to handle the massive casualties to be incurred in an attack on the Japanese mainland.

 

[cmort666]

Later in the war the most fearsome question was that after Tarawa, Peleiu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa (to mention a few) would the United States civilian population be able to handle the massive casualties to be incurred in an attack on the Japanese mainland.

The Japanese themselves insured that the war would end in complete defeat for themselves.

You can't do the things they did to helpless POWs and civilians and have ANY sane hope for leniency. They were neither an honorable, nor indeed a rational opponent. And they treated each other nearly as badly as they treated everyone else.

The Japanese offered no quarter and none was given to them.

 

[wbraswell]

Watching those B-25s fall below deck level after take-off is scary. Imagine how scary it was to those flyers. What heroes!

 

[Texas Star]

Watching those B-25s fall below deck level after take-off is scary. Imagine how scary it was to those flyers. What heroes!

Good point, but look at that escorting destroyer that actually has its bow submerged at times by the heavy seas!

 

[TheHobbyist]

Had the opportunity to listen to a Doolittle Raider speak about three years ago; it was a great honor. Unfortunately, some in the audience were raised without manners and interrupted the man.

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

It never ceases to amaze me the bravery and self sacrifice displayed by our military. Not only the greatest generation, but all of America's people in uniform. Thank God for them.

I just got through watching the Ken Burns documentary, "The War" for about the 3rd time. It is truly mind-boggling the hell that so many people endured for the cause of freedom in that war. It really makes me realize how fortunate I am here in 2011 that Im speaking english in a free USA. If not for that war, its hard to say what kind of screwed up world we would all be living in if Hitler got his way.

But, I would highly recommend watching that one along with an earlier work of his called "The Civil War".