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http://warannals.com James Doolittle
Doolittle, James H. (1896-1993), American aviator and army officer, who led the first U.S. air raid on Japan during World War II. Born on December 14, 1896, in Alameda, California, Doolittle grew up there and in Nome, Alaska. In October 1917 he enlisted in the army reserve. Assigned to the Signal Corps, he served as a flying instructor during World War I, was commissioned first lieutenant in the Air Service, regular army, in July 1920, and became deeply involved in the development of military aviation. On September 24, 1922, he made the first transcontinental flight in under 24 hours. He was sent by the army to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for advanced engineering studies. Assigned to test-facility stations, he spent five more years in diverse phases of aviation, winning a number of trophy races, demonstrating aircraft in South America, and in September 1929 making the first successful test of blind, instrument-controlled landing techniques. He left the Army but continued to race, winning the Harmon trophy in 1930 and the Bendix in 1931 and setting a world speed record in 1932. He served on various government and military consultative boards during this period. September 4, 1922--Lieutenant James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle piloted a U.S. Army Air Service de Havilland DH-4B on the first coast-to-coast flight in less than 24 hours. At an average speed exceeding 100 mph, Doolittle flew 2,163 miles from Pablo Beach, Fla., to San Diego, Calif., in 21 hours and 20 minutes, making a brief refueling stop at Kelly Field, Texas. Doolittle's groundbreaking journey was one of many undertaken by pilots under Assistant Chief of the Air Service Brig. Gen. William ("Billy") Mitchell to demonstrate the practical applications of aviation to anti-airplane "battleship admirals" and isolationist Congresses of the early 1920s. Shortly before US entry into World War II, he returned to active duty as a major with the Army Air Corps. After a tour of industrial plants then converting to war production, he joined A.A.C. headquarters for an extended period of planning that bore spectacular results on April 18, 1942. from the deck of the carrier Hornet, Doolittle, then a lieutenant, led a flight of 16 B-25 bombers on a daring raid over Japan, hitting targets in Tokyo, Yokohama, and other cities, scoring a moral huge victory. On April 18, 1942, under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, a small force of B-25 Mitchell light bombers set forth on one of the most audacious air raids of World War II. Launching in a rough sea from the heaving deck of the carrier USS Hornet, the crews knew that even if they achieved success, they were not to return. Their mission to bomb Tokyo and other industrial targets some 800 miles distant would leave them barely enough fuel to fly onto crash-land in China. The planes were actually launched earlier than had been the original plan. The group was sighted by a Japanese ship earlier in the morning, but the ship was unable to radio their presence to the mainland. Nine aircraft were attacked by enemy fighters, every one made it to the target, all but one aircraft were lost. But the raid was a triumph. The Japanese High Command were so alarmed by the American's ability to strike at their homeland they attempted to expand the perimeter of activity in the central and southern Pacific - with disastrous results. Lt. Col. Doolittle was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in recognition of the extraordinary feat he and his gallant crews performed. Miraculously most survived to fly and fight again later in the war, Jimmy Doolittle going onto command the Eighth Air Force in Europe at the time of the Normandy invasion. From January 1944 to September 1945, he directed intensive strategic bombing of Germany. In 1945, when air operations ended in the European theater, he moved with the Eighth Air Force to Okinawa in the Pacific. In May 1946 he returned to reserve status and civilian life. He served on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics from 1948 to 1958, the Air Force Science Advisory Board, and the President's Science Advisory Committee. Gen. Doolittle retired from both the Air Force and civilian life in 1959, but remained active in the aerospace industry. He continued to serve on a great many advisory boards and committees on aerospace, intelligence and national security.
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