December 31, 2009 — Jonna Doolittle Hoppes speaks about her Grandfather, General Jimmy Doolittle from her new book “Calculated Risk” and the importance of recording history for future generations at the Historic Flight Foundation’s “B-25 Grumpy Welcome Reception”. This clip includes original film footage of the crews on the historic “Doolittle Raid” of WWII, which proved to the US and the Japanese Empire that America could and would strike back.
There’s obviously more to the story than we’re able to present here. The anniversary of the Doolittle Raid deserves recognition, as it was not only unimaginably dangerous and ballsy, but very necessary to send a message to Japan, as well as to the American public. It was created, orchestrated and accomplished in a little over 4 months after the unwarranted attack on Pearl Harbor.
Military Magazine recently published a first person account of a pilot who volunteered for the mission without knowing what it was. The mission wasn’t revealed until the modified bombers had been loaded onto the U.S.S. Hornet and the Hornet was at sea. Of the pilots who volunteered, all were given opportunities to decide for themselves whether they wanted to go on, without reprimand or dishonor, and not one of them sat down.
www.milmag.com doesn’t have the story on line yet, but it’s a must read.
[Crossposted here.]
Tags: Doolittle Raid, guts, Tokyo, WWII
Very interesting.
balls, pure balls.
The Doolittle raid is great history.
Also on this day in 1943 one year after the Doolittle raid, “Operation Peacock” was a success. The Japanese code had been broken. A Mitsubishi bomber carrying Admiral Yamamoto was intercepted by 16 P-38′s – sending Yamamoto to his death.
@ bar:
That was huge.
so its two very important events in the pacific theater today in history!
@ Rodan:
It took a lot of balls, like the Doolittle raid.
@ coldwarrior:
Funny, April 18, 1943 was a Sunday…..
Now I feel like shooting some Japs down.
/
Several pilots crash landed in Japanese occupied China and were executed as “war criminals” in Japan by the Tojo clique.
Col. Doolittle received the Medal of Honor for his leadership of the raid.
Only around 16 tons of bombs were dropped on Tokyo that day – a pittance compared to what would be dropped a couple of years later – however it was a tremendous morale boost for the American public.
I guess you culd call the killing of Admiral Yamamoto a “targeted Assassination” – now the question is “Was it proportionate to the original provocation”? /sarcasm.
bar wrote:
There is a fascinating (but difficult) book called “The Code Breakers” by David Kahn. Contains not only the history of cryptology but the results throughout history. The deciphering of the Japanese “Purple” codes is fascinating. There is an excellent abridged version that omits some of the tedium of the mathematics involved, yet retains enough detail for a basic understanding of the operations. Had we not broken the Japanese codes, Midway would likely have been lost and the outcome of the war in the Pacific would have been very different.
Speranza wrote:
AND, just as important, the Emperor lost face.
.
And that was the main point. The American people were shocked that U.S Territory could be penetrated & the Pacific Fleet could be so rocked.
Even though militarily it was not that significant, psychologically it was huge.
Speaking of Doolittle…
I have a theory for why the congress and POTUS are going full blast against what the polls are telling them the public wants. It’s become received wisdom among the chattering class that the people are angry at the “do nothing” congress. This is just one of these elite legends that feed off of themselves. Frankly, I’d love to limit congress to two weeks a year, and require them to go home to their home offices for the other 50. And that doesn’t mean vacation, that means keeping office hours, so they can take appointments from constituents.
But they’ve managed to convince themselves that we’re all upset that they weren’t doing anything, and from there, it’s easy to make the leap that once you get past some temporary head winds, the public will love you for “doing something”.
How many times have you heard the MSM moaning about the “do nothing congress”? Now how many times have you heard real, actual people complaining about it?
I think they really honestly expect that they’re going to get love for this rape. They believe it, because that’s the received wisdom that’s been rattling around the beltway for decades. They think we’re upset at the “do nothing congress”. I wish we had a “do nothing congress”.
Speranza wrote:
Last week there was a segment of World at War that showed various Japanese propaganda newsreels from the war years. One of the newsreels was of Yamamoto’s state funeral. There was a horse drawn caisson which was carrying a little shinto styled box. I guess they never found his carcass.
Also in history on this date in 1775 Paul Revere & William Dawes warn “British are coming!” and in 1783 fighting ceases in the American Revolution, eight years to the day since it began. How ’bout them apples!
Is PBS showing it again?
@ Bunk X:
It sent a message to the Japs that their homeland wasn’t safe.
@ RIX:
I’ve been getting on either the History Channel or the Military Channel. I can’t remember which.
@ huckfunn:
didn’t know that.
Thank you, I’m going to look for it. It is a great series.
@ RIX:
@ Rodan:
Here it is. The Military Channel
What I find surprising is most of the 16 Bombers crashed in China.
@ huckfunn:
Thanks again
song_and_dance_man wrote:
And that the Soviets interned one crew who landed in their territory for more than one year and up to 250,000 Chinese were killed by Japanese retaliatory measures.
@ snork:
I think we’d be better off if there was one house of congress that did nothing but repeal laws. Instead of “do-nothing”, undo.
@ RIX:
You’re welcome. The Military Channel has also been doing a series on WWI which is the period of history that really fascinates me the most. I’ve always known that at the end of the war, the Kaiser abdicated to Holland, but I was unaware of the circumstances. Yesterday’s segment showed that as both the eastern and western fronts collapsed in 1918, revolution hit the streets in Berlin. The Kaiser ordered the army to fire on the people and was told by the general staff “we don’t work for you any more”. That’s when he fleux de coupe.
RIX wrote:
The series was released on DVD with some very good extras. 11 DVDs, worth the price.
@ Iron Fist:
I think that you’ll find this interesting. I was at a coffee last week where kevin McCarthy , Congressman from CA & Republican Congressional
Campaign Chairman spoke.
In the Q&A he said that if they retake the House , the plan is to defund ObamaCare.
.
I do think that I will pick it up. Can you get it through Blockbuster?
song_and_dance_man wrote:
They crashed in China as opposed to crashing in the Pacific. Better chance at survival.
@ RIX:
Good. Starve the monster before it eats us…
@ RIX #31:
…and when Obama vetoes that, they should defund Air Force 1, and make him fly commercial.
Iron Fist wrote:
One of the stated original intents of the separation of powers, coupled with the hardships of governing, was to make it difficult to pass legislation.
Now we have an entrenched political class that the antipodes of the constitutional ideals.
@ Guggi:
Yeah, I was reading the same Wiki page linked in the post. The interned in Russia escaped through Iran, and John Birch (yep the one whose name is now on the Society) assisted the soldiers in China.
@ huckfunn:
WWI is very fascinating.
Truck Monkey wrote:
The Hornet was spotted by a Japanese patrol boat – they had to launch several hundred miles further out then planned. They didn’t have enough fuel to reach allied-held Chinese soil.
coldwarrior wrote:
balls that I cannot even fathom.
and 18 and 19 year old Americans over in Iraq and Afghanistan are displaying this degree of balls on a daily basis.
God Bless our amazing Brave Military. I am in awe of them each and every day
And Francisco Franco gave refuge to European Jews.
Rodan wrote:
Train wrecks usually are – and that was an EPIC train wreck. Bloody too.
thank you Admins for showcasing these American Heros.
I don’t visit the swamp but no doubt they are showcasing boiling frogs today.
they’ve forgotten who gave them their freedom
Rodan wrote:
Just the fact the Kings of England, Germany and Russia were first cousins is a good start.
RIX wrote:
Amazing stuff.
@ PSGInfinity:
Both sides were bad.
huckfunn wrote:
Anyone else noticed the similar among of inbreeding among our current political class?
song_and_dance_man wrote:
And how do you call people who kill up to 250,000 Chinese (mostly civilians) to find a handful enemies ?
song_and_dance_man wrote:
Yeah it is . Time for dinner, have a good evening all.
Rodan wrote:
All three major fronts, too…
RIX wrote:
If the (R)’s retake Congress, they better not squander the opportunity as they did under W. It was that very thing that turned me against Bush and his stupid Compassionate Conservatism.
PSGInfinity wrote:
just Carville
Guggi wrote:
Some of the worst monsters to ever walk this earth?
@ huckfunn:
And they or their fathers all walked in Queen Victoria’s funeral procession.
@ song_and_dance_man:
AKA Progressive Republicanism.
Guggi wrote:
As bad as the Islamists. They were my first experience, from learning about WWII, of suicide missions.
Rodan wrote:
i find the ww1 period to be more intriguing than ww2…if i had to be a ‘scholar’ on one OR the other, i would choose to study the first war period
Rodan wrote:
Democrat Lite. Less Socialism, Same Crappy Taste.
PSGInfinity wrote:
I’ve always wondered about how Dennis Rodman and Hillary Rodman Clinton are related. //:grin:
Doppelganger wrote:
How about Harry Reid? Pelosi’s from “Bahlmer”(Baltimore) fer cryin out loud! And Slick Willie? And, …
@ Rodan:
And I know you agree with me on this, because we’ve talked about it extensively. That is the very reason the (R)’s were voted out. They abandoned the base and pushed the asinine Progressive Lite agenda.
And people are gonna be doubly pissed if they are voted back in and continue with their, as you say, Progressive Republicanism.
huckfunn wrote:
Remember, we still don’t know what planet(s) they came from. Dennis could be the larval form of the Hillary, for example…
coldwarrior wrote:
Exactly my view. There are several good novels based on that period and I’ll let you know. BTW, it looks like you and the crew pulled an allnighter last night. Anything but fumes left in that Tito’s jug?
Gotta do some housewoik; BBL…
huckfunn wrote:
They can both talk in an Ebonic style?
/
Doppelganger wrote:
thank the writers, we just turn the knobs…
huckfunn wrote:
i was on luksosowa polish vodka…my latin friend was hittin the tito’s!
many brain cells were massacred last night.
The tragedy of the Doolittle Raid was having Awec Bawdwin play the Lt. Col. in Bay’s abomination, Pearl Harbor.
penguins winning 2-1! hooorayy!
coldwarrior wrote:
I’m continually thankful that God gave us so many spares.
RickZ wrote:
In the first vid, Doolittles granddaughter explains how she was given a copy of that script and they initially portrayed him as a foul mouth idiot. She contacted Disney and learned that a dead person cannot be libeled and that the writers knew hardly anything about what they were writing about.
My
assistanceservitude is required in the kitchen. Back after supper.Great post. I love military history. Hope we can do more of these here.
I like WWII better from an aviation standpoint, better aircraft that just kept getting better. And the other advanced German weapons, technology just “exploded” during that period.
The Pacific war saw the very first Aircraft carriers battle each other, the first time in history naval war ships fought each other when they couldn’t even see each other, hundreds of miles apart.
Jet aircraft, sweptwing aircraft, rocket aircraft, ballistic missiles, radar, radio guidance, radio guidance with a camera (first smart bomb which was really a cruise missile V1- buzz bomb), the proximity fuse (we invented) and so many advances came from that era.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
While a dead person cannot be defamed, California’s right of privacy/right of publicity law gives protection to a persona for 70 years after a person’s death; the heirs of the 3 Stooges successfully sued in California to prevent distribution of T-shirts carrying a drawing of the Stooges which they had not authorized.
Going up against Disney’s legal department is a formidable task, but it might have been possible to use the California surviving right of privacy/publicity against them.
if i havent already, i recommend this book:
at dawn we slept
goldstein was one of my instructors at grad school, he ended up with all of pranger’s notes from the pacific theater…volumes of material.
@ coldwarrior:
I still feel like crap and I prayed to the Porcelain God a few times today.
@ coldwarrior:
WOOT!
Rodan wrote:
nothing like a little alcohol poisoning to get your mind right!
water, electrolytes, complex carbs and some aspirin…
@ buzzsawmonkey:
That makes sense since they used his persona in the movie. I guess that’s why Disney felt compelled to send the family a copy of the script. And Disney did rewrite his part, but not totally to their satisfaction.
@ coldwarrior:
Edwin P. Hoyt wrote some pretty good history books, including some on WWII Japan.
goddessoftheclassroom wrote:
woot x2!
Rodan wrote:
Too close to idol worship. I like to say I drove the porcelain bus.
Rodan wrote:
i am having a bombay saphire gin and tonicw/lime …TO EMPIRE!
RickZ wrote:
i have his book on yamamoto
Hillary Clinton is a LIAR!!!
Clinton congratulates Israel: We’ll help shoulder your burdens
Clinton and Obama have made it clear that they are Israel’s enemies. They lie through their teeth every time they claim support.
75% of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate have signed letters to Hillary Clinton asking her to knock off her bad attitude against Israel. They know she’s lying when she claims a commitment to Israel, too.
@ Eliana:
Hillary and ☭bie have a commitment to Israel, a commitment to Isreal’s destruction.
@ Eliana:
It may be that, when she says the B. Hussein admin will not waver in protecting Israel’s security and promoting it’s future, it is code for a two state solution and therein, in her mind, lies the guarantee. Giving Israel protection and a future by getting the Pali’s what they want.
@ RickZ:
Yes, they do.
@ Rodan:
Rodan– Saw those Latin Kings videos you put up earlier. You gonna do a post about your experiences with them?
@ Bunk X:
Maybe I don ‘t want to glorify them either. I was drunk and was just posting stuff.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
IMO the downslide started with Bush the Elder’s “Read My Lips” speech, and his reneging on the promise.
@ Doppelganger:
They’re talking about the tea parties again instead of important things.
@ RickZ:
Damn, you beat me to it!