This was supposed to go up yesterday but “life intervened.” Jimmy Doolittle (l) and Hornet CO Marc Mitscher with the Raiders before takeoff Over the three months since John Bridgers had arrived at NAS Barber’s Point, he had trained hard to become a dive bomber pilot. He recalled, “Bombing Three provided the Navy a handy place to familiarize a group of newly-hatched replacement scout-bomber pilots with the Douglass SBD Dauntless, which none of us had previously seen, much less flown. The veteran Saratoga pilots resented the idea of having to take us on familiarization flights, sitting in the rear-seats of their planes while being piloted by fellows several years their junior in age and experience. Their headquarters and ready room were in a beach house alongside the airfield, left over from the beachside holiday spot the area had been before it was converted to an air station shortly before hostilities started. In their mind we unnecessarily cluttered their living and work place, and it was frequently suggested that we spend more time outdoors. There were worse places to be than outdoors in Hawaii.”
My father graduated from college in 1942 (with a rushed diploma) and joined the Army. He was assigned (recruited?) to the OSS. His first mission was to Vietnam to retrieve some Doolittle airmen. It was an incredible story; I’m sorry he never wrote about it. He only talked about it once with me and it was such a kaleidoscope that I can’t retrieve all the parts, except one:
He was with a radioman and, when they were attacked by Japanese troops, the radioman was lost so Dad was out of touch with the submarine. He had found the airmen but he couldn’t arrange for their pickup. The Japanese were losing territory to the Chinese and very soon the immediate area was under no one’s control. Dad went to the telegraph office and sent a wire to the American embassy, and he got a telegram back two days later saying where and when to meet the submarine.
Although he never mentioned it he was awarded the silver star, so we were told at his memorial service. However, with some snafu, he never actually received it, but said he didn’t need to bother anyone about that. The man telling us this was way up in the government, and he joked that when he would mention the subject, Dad would say oh, don’t bother about it… that’s all still classified, anyway. To which the speaker would reply, well I have the full security clearance, so…
He got a laugh.
Then he went on to say that he couldn’t leave it that way, so if we’d all bear with him, and… at that point, a full Army color guard marched down the aisle and a general stepped out of the wings and they went through the entire atten-HUP, the presention of arms, etc. and invited his widow to step up on on stage, and the tears were flooding the auditorium like it was a thunderstorm. My eyes are leaking again just writing this.
A few corrections (I read Carroll Glines' histories of the raid and of the POWs from it as a boy, and somehow I remember a lot of it.). Ted Lawson is second from the left in the picture you posted, not the right. All eight captured Raiders captured were tried for war crimes in Japanese courts; three, 1LT Danny Farrow, 1LT Dean Hallmark (aircraft commanders) and a third, which I can't find the name of right now were executed. One other died in captivity, and four were liberated at war's end.
Another story, and I'm not sure if this was in Glines' history or where, was that GEN Arnold picked up LTC Doolittle in Washington DC. In the car, the General told Doolittle that they were going to the White House for FDR to award the Medal of Honor to him. As the story goes, Doolittle strongly objected, saying "I don't deserve the Big One!" and protested to the point where Hap Arnold basically gave him a direct order to accept the medal from Roosevelt. Doolittle went to his grave believing he did not deserve the Medal of Honor, but also lived the rest of his life to earn it.
A great article about a great story - thanks muchly for this. I actually have a distant connection to this raid - the Bride's late former father-in-law, William A. Hood Jr. was an ordnance officer on the Hornet and supervised loading the bombs onto the Doolittle raid B-25s. I spoke to Dick Cole a few years ago before he died, and he remembered Bill Hood. Col. Cole was still quite sharp when I talked with him. He autographed a poster of the B-25B used on the mission, and the Bride;s ex still has it hanging in his home. One would think that the US bombing Japan only months after the attack on Pearl Harbor might have given some of the Japanese leadership pause in considering their chances of victory.
The Tokyo raid did in fact "give pause," mostly among the Navy, the less-xenophobic of the two services. Nagumo, who was never an "enthusiast," went along with commanding Kido Butai for the Midway operation on Yamamoto's assurance that this would be the operation that would make the US negotiate peace.
I should mention that (later Capt.) Bill Hood served on two carriers early in WW2 - the Lexington and the Hornet, both shot out from under him. Presumably he found one that stayed afloat.....
Such heroic young men and older ones too for that matter. Where would democracy be if they had not done what needed to be done when the doing was so important. IMO there needs to be more risk taking by NATO with regard to the heroic efforts of Ukrainians to expel russia and putin from their nation and blunt their capacities for causing murder and mayhem, not just in Europe but all over the world. I keep wondering why the free world is not more courageous given the escalating efforts of putin and his band of murderers.
To be fair to everyone, Doolittle made his reputation in the military - first dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight, winning the Schneider Cup in 1924, first outside loop, development of the artificial horizon that made instrument flight possible, proving it by making an entire flight under the hood and winning the Harmon Trophy for doing it, then winning the Thompson Trophy in 1932. Shell thought when they hired him that they had a great PR guy for their continuing business in aviation gas. Doolittle took the job because he wanted to convince them to develop and produce 100-octane avgas, which was thought impossible (the Germans and Japanese never managed to do it). He was really never "out" of the service.
As a kid, I remember seeing the movie Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, and knew I had to read the book too, the Landmark Books version; remember, I was just a kid. I think Trumbo wrote the screenplay and Spencer Tracy was Doolittle in the movie.
Yes, screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, based on the book by Ted Lawson and the book written by Bob Considine, the reporter to accompanied them aboard Hornet. Spencer Tracy plays Doolittle. Van Johnson plays Ted Lawson. Robert Mitchum plays Bob Gray, in his first important screen role. The movie is historically and technically very accurate and I highly recommend it.
My father graduated from college in 1942 (with a rushed diploma) and joined the Army. He was assigned (recruited?) to the OSS. His first mission was to Vietnam to retrieve some Doolittle airmen. It was an incredible story; I’m sorry he never wrote about it. He only talked about it once with me and it was such a kaleidoscope that I can’t retrieve all the parts, except one:
He was with a radioman and, when they were attacked by Japanese troops, the radioman was lost so Dad was out of touch with the submarine. He had found the airmen but he couldn’t arrange for their pickup. The Japanese were losing territory to the Chinese and very soon the immediate area was under no one’s control. Dad went to the telegraph office and sent a wire to the American embassy, and he got a telegram back two days later saying where and when to meet the submarine.
Great story!
Although he never mentioned it he was awarded the silver star, so we were told at his memorial service. However, with some snafu, he never actually received it, but said he didn’t need to bother anyone about that. The man telling us this was way up in the government, and he joked that when he would mention the subject, Dad would say oh, don’t bother about it… that’s all still classified, anyway. To which the speaker would reply, well I have the full security clearance, so…
He got a laugh.
Then he went on to say that he couldn’t leave it that way, so if we’d all bear with him, and… at that point, a full Army color guard marched down the aisle and a general stepped out of the wings and they went through the entire atten-HUP, the presention of arms, etc. and invited his widow to step up on on stage, and the tears were flooding the auditorium like it was a thunderstorm. My eyes are leaking again just writing this.
That's really a terrific moment.
A few corrections (I read Carroll Glines' histories of the raid and of the POWs from it as a boy, and somehow I remember a lot of it.). Ted Lawson is second from the left in the picture you posted, not the right. All eight captured Raiders captured were tried for war crimes in Japanese courts; three, 1LT Danny Farrow, 1LT Dean Hallmark (aircraft commanders) and a third, which I can't find the name of right now were executed. One other died in captivity, and four were liberated at war's end.
Another story, and I'm not sure if this was in Glines' history or where, was that GEN Arnold picked up LTC Doolittle in Washington DC. In the car, the General told Doolittle that they were going to the White House for FDR to award the Medal of Honor to him. As the story goes, Doolittle strongly objected, saying "I don't deserve the Big One!" and protested to the point where Hap Arnold basically gave him a direct order to accept the medal from Roosevelt. Doolittle went to his grave believing he did not deserve the Medal of Honor, but also lived the rest of his life to earn it.
Thanks for the corrections Andy. That sure sounds like Doolittle.
Great telling of a great story. Thanks TC.
A great article about a great story - thanks muchly for this. I actually have a distant connection to this raid - the Bride's late former father-in-law, William A. Hood Jr. was an ordnance officer on the Hornet and supervised loading the bombs onto the Doolittle raid B-25s. I spoke to Dick Cole a few years ago before he died, and he remembered Bill Hood. Col. Cole was still quite sharp when I talked with him. He autographed a poster of the B-25B used on the mission, and the Bride;s ex still has it hanging in his home. One would think that the US bombing Japan only months after the attack on Pearl Harbor might have given some of the Japanese leadership pause in considering their chances of victory.
The Tokyo raid did in fact "give pause," mostly among the Navy, the less-xenophobic of the two services. Nagumo, who was never an "enthusiast," went along with commanding Kido Butai for the Midway operation on Yamamoto's assurance that this would be the operation that would make the US negotiate peace.
I should mention that (later Capt.) Bill Hood served on two carriers early in WW2 - the Lexington and the Hornet, both shot out from under him. Presumably he found one that stayed afloat.....
Such heroic young men and older ones too for that matter. Where would democracy be if they had not done what needed to be done when the doing was so important. IMO there needs to be more risk taking by NATO with regard to the heroic efforts of Ukrainians to expel russia and putin from their nation and blunt their capacities for causing murder and mayhem, not just in Europe but all over the world. I keep wondering why the free world is not more courageous given the escalating efforts of putin and his band of murderers.
A gripping story and a hide-speed read ... of men and machines pushed far outside “the envelope.” Kudos.
Can you imagine a Shell Oil vice -president today giving up his position to return to military service ?
Lt. Colonel Doolittle certainly didn’t live up to his name!
Thanks all for sharing..
To be fair to everyone, Doolittle made his reputation in the military - first dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight, winning the Schneider Cup in 1924, first outside loop, development of the artificial horizon that made instrument flight possible, proving it by making an entire flight under the hood and winning the Harmon Trophy for doing it, then winning the Thompson Trophy in 1932. Shell thought when they hired him that they had a great PR guy for their continuing business in aviation gas. Doolittle took the job because he wanted to convince them to develop and produce 100-octane avgas, which was thought impossible (the Germans and Japanese never managed to do it). He was really never "out" of the service.
Always more to the story.Thanks.
Yes, TC, an amazing story.
As a kid, I remember seeing the movie Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, and knew I had to read the book too, the Landmark Books version; remember, I was just a kid. I think Trumbo wrote the screenplay and Spencer Tracy was Doolittle in the movie.
Yes, screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, based on the book by Ted Lawson and the book written by Bob Considine, the reporter to accompanied them aboard Hornet. Spencer Tracy plays Doolittle. Van Johnson plays Ted Lawson. Robert Mitchum plays Bob Gray, in his first important screen role. The movie is historically and technically very accurate and I highly recommend it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/us/robert-l-hite-survivor-of-doolittle-raid-and-japanese-imprisonment-dies-at-95.html
That's nice to know, that he survived.
And after that ordeal still lived to be 95!
That was an amazing recount. Thank you TC.
I love these sorts of stories. Crisply told, always little nuggets to amaze. 👏🏻