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One week after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt began pressing the U.S. military to immediately strike the Japanese homeland. The desire to bolster moral became more urgent in light of rapid Japanese advances. These included victories in Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines, Wake Island, and the Dutch East Indies, as well as sinking the British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse. Only improbable ideas warranted consideration, because submarines confirmed Japan placed picket boats at extreme carrier aircraft range. One idea even involved launching four engine heavy bombers from China or Outer Mongolia to strike Japan and fly on to Alaska. Captain Francis...

Live now. Last toast for the surviving raiders.

One week after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt began pressing the U.S. military to immediately strike the Japanese homeland. Desires to bolster moral became more urgent in light of rapid Japanese advances. Victories in Malaya, Philippines, Wake Island, and Dutch East Indies included sinking the British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse as the Japanese conquered Singapore. Only improbable ideas warranted consideration, because submarines confirmed Japan placed picket boats at extreme carrier aircraft range. One idea even involved launching four engine heavy bombers from China or Outer Mongolia to strike Japan and fly on to Alaska. Captain Francis Law, a submariner,...

Next week, a United States Air Force Academy cadet will once again turn over a cup to signify that another "hero" has passed. 76 cups upside down...4 remaining. This "tradition " has been going on for 71 years and this will be the last time these few brave gentlemen will be together in one place, at one time. For you see, there are now only 4 remaining of the original 80 men who took off on a cold wet April 18th day knowing that they had insufficient fuel to reach a safe destination. Knowing full well that this may be...

Now, he’s flying with the angels. Tom Griffin, one of just five surviving Doolittle Raiders, died Tuesday night in his sleep at the Fort Thomas VA hospital in Kentucky. He navigated one of 16 North American B-25 Mitchell bombers from an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific during the early dark days of World War II to launch a surprise daylight attack on Tokyo, lifting American morale. The longtime Green Township, Ohio, resident was 96. By his own count, Mr. Griffin cheated death eight times during World War II. The first time was when he took off in...

Seventy years ago this week sixteen Army Air Force B-25 Mitchells took off from the heaving deck of the Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Hornet. This was the first time in the Second World War that America took the fight to the enemy. The raiders who were led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, struck Japan in a demonstration ofAmerica’s determination to take the fight to Japan’s home soil. This raid was a morale booster for a nation that was still recovering from the attack onPearl Harbor. The concept of launching medium bombers from a carrier was conceived by Navy Captain Francis...

B-25 bombers fly in to Ohio to honor the daring American fliers who 70 years ago took part in the Doolittle Raid on Japan The B-25 bomber barely missed clipping the top of the mountain as its engines started to sputter. Its crew knew it was time to jump into the dark somewhere in eastern China. With only faint moonlight to guide him down, Lt. Tom Griffin’s parachute snagged a mountainside treetop. There the Army Air Force navigator hung for several hours until dawn with only the sound of occasional pistol fire breaking the night’s silence. Griffin could only hope...

A great and genuine American hero The audacious US Army air attack upon the Japanese home islands in April of 1942 that came to be known as the Doolittle Raid was the very first American offensive inflicted upon the Japanese motherland in WWII. As intended, it came as a hideous shock to both the military regime and Japanese people... In the event, actual military and economic damage was unsubstantial- but by exposing 'invincible' Japan as vulnerable, the heroic bombing run brought us a much-needed morale boost... Americans got their first taste of vengeance in the wake of the sneak-attack on Pearl Harbor just the previous year....

Col. William Marsh "Bill" Bower, the last surviving pilot of "Doolittle's Raiders" who bombed Japan in 1942, died Monday at his home in south Boulder. He was 93 and "lived a completely full life," said his son Jim Bower. "My dad was a hell of a guy," he said. "He was a brave soul, a warrior. He was everybody's friend. He did all kinds of volunteer work. He was an exceptional human being." Bill Bower was hailed as a hero for his role in the United States' first air attack on Japan following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec....

A Justice Department corruption investigation that helped drive John Doolittle from office has now been closed without charges being filed, the former Sacramento, Calif.-area congressman said Friday. "I'm thrilled," Doolittle said in an interview. "They've dragged this thing out for six and a half years." Doolittle's relief, though, is tinged with bitterness at how he believes the Justice Department has mistreated him. He says he accumulated $600,000 in attorneys fees, some of which he was able to pay with campaign funds. The lingering investigation hindered his ability to find work. In the beginning, he said, it proved "very devastating" to...

4/19/2010 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OHIO (AFNS) -- Some of the remaining members of the Doolittle Raiders participate in a question and answer session with the media here April 16. The Raiders continue to inspire those servicing in the Air Force.

WASHINGTON – A judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of a former lobbyist caught up in the Jack Abramoff affair, the biggest setback in the government's long-running prosecution of the influence-peddling scandal. The jury deadlocked over allegations that Kevin Ring lavished thousands of dollars worth of tickets and meals on employees of then-Republican Reps. John Doolittle of California and Ernest Istook of Oklahoma and on Justice Department officials in return for congressional appropriations and other assistance for Abramoff's clients. The panel of seven women and five men also was unable to reach a verdict on another count, on...

Federal prosecutors name former Rep. John Doolittle as an unindicted co-conspirator in a corruption case against one of Doolittle's former aides. In documents filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., last week, the government also alleged Doolittle's wife, Julia, and nine other people were co-conspirators of Kevin A. Ring. Neither Doolittle, who last year did not seek a 10th term representing the sprawling 4th Congressional District, nor his wife has been charged with a crime. They could not be reached for comment Monday. Ring, whose trial began Sept. 11, is charged with 10 counts, including bribery and conspiracy to...

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2009 – Thousands of people, young and old, gathered to honor five of the nine surviving Doolittle Raiders at the 67th Reunion in Columbia, S.C., April 16-18. On April 18, 1942, the Doolittle Raiders, led by then-Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, became the first to bombard Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor. “Early on, everybody thought leaving the flight deck of the carrier was the biggest challenge of the trip,” retired Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, Doolittle’s co-pilot, said. “As it turned out, it was the easiest thing, and I had a special advantage because I...

One week after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt began pressing the U.S. military to immediately strike the Japanese homeland. Desires to bolster moral became more urgent in light of rapid Japanese advances. Victories in Malaya, Philippines, Wake Island, and Dutch East Indies included sinking British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse as Japanese invested Singapore. Only improbable ideas warranted consideration, because submarines confirmed Japan placed picket boats at extreme carrier aircraft range. One idea involved launching four engine heavy bombers from Outer Mongolia to strike Japan and fly on to Alaska. Captain Francis Law, a submariner, first broached the idea of...

(snip) Doolittle was hailed by elected officials in a vast, stoutly Republican district for bringing home federal dollars. His bountiful political leadership fund furnished the purse strings for candidates and causes. His fiery conservatism plucked the heartstrings of party activists. (snip) Regional elected officials who stood with Doolittle now overwhelmingly support former Sacramento-area Rep. Doug Ose, claiming he is best suited to secure federal funding for local projects and infrastructure. Republican Party activists, particularly the local county GOP central committee members who were among Doolittle's most devout supporters, are breaking strongly for Ose's rival, state Sen. Tom McClintock. (snip) Tom...

Former Gov. Pete Wilson has lashed out at GOP state Sen. Tom McClintock, saying McClintock couldn't be counted on in the Legislature and should not go to Congress. Wilson, a fellow Republican, made the remarks during a campaign event for the 4th Congressional District GOP primary organized by McClintock rival Doug Ose. The two are battling to replace incumbent GOP Rep. John Doolittle, who is retiring. McClintock was in the state Assembly while Wilson was governor. Wilson said McClintock was the first to criticize but the last to help his own team. McClintock's campaign did not immediately respond to a...

The Republican free-for-all to replace retiring GOP Rep. John Doolittle is ugly and getting uglier, with the campaigns spending plenty to tag one candidate as a greedy carpetbagger and the other as a big-spending liberal. Those are fighting words in the Fourth Congressional District, which rambles from the Sacramento suburbs of Rocklin and Roseville east to Lake Tahoe and north to the Oregon border. Former Rep. Doug Ose and state Sen. Tom McClintock are brawling for the GOP nomination in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats 47 percent to 30 percent and the incumbent is leaving after being named in...

WASHINGTON – The campaign trail is lined with the political wrecks of the unknowns and the unknowables who have fallen along the way in their own personal quest for a seat in Congress. This year, three candidates are hoping to avoid a similar fate as they seek a spot on the ballot in the red-hot campaign for the seat being vacated by Rep. John Doolittle. School district legal analyst Suzanne Jones of Citrus Heights, Cedar Ridge artist Theodore Terbolizard and legal philosopher John Wolfgram will be campaigning in the shadows of Republicans Doug Ose and Tom McClintock and Democrat Charlie...

3/17/2008 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Retired Staff Sgt. Jacob DeShazer, 95, one of the famed "Doolittle Raiders," who helped boost American morale in the early days of World War II with a surprise air attack on Japan, died March 15. Born Nov. 15, 1912, in Salem, Ore., Sergeant DeShazer graduated from Madras High School in 1931. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940. Sergeant DeShazer, then a corporal, was the bombardier of Crew No.16 flying the "Bat Out of Hell," the last of the 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers to launch from the USS Hornet April 18, 1942,...