8oth Anniversary Doolittle Raid

Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole, was the last living raider and died April 7, 2019 at 103 years. I knew so many men like him as I grew up and throughout my years. I knew an ace who served in the Flying Tigers, a ranger who scaled Point-Du-Hoc, a UDT sailor who cleared surf obstacles before the Okinawa landing, and a man with the 10th Mountain Infantry who received two silver stars and was the only one of eight officers in his company to land in Italy and soldier through the102 days until the Germans surrendered.

Now like Richard Cole all the men I knew have passed as well. I do not plan to forget them and will post this story annually to help others remember.

I vividly remember (I was a 9-year-old) the elation and celebration when the American public was made aware of this attack on those stinking japs...

Thanks for the post.

I read “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” when I was a young and it left a lasting impression.

Thank you for the reminder of this historic mission. I remember hearing stories of how the Doolittle raid lifted the morale of the country, so soon after Pearl Harbor.

Remember this happened in April 1942. History tells us that the Axis powers had reached their maximum territory occupied in November and December of 1942. The outcome of the war was far from certain then.

While history tells us that we won World War II, it was not at all certain in those dark days of 1942 that we would emerge victorious.

Thanks for posting.

I vividly remember (I was a 9-year-old) the elation and celebration when the American public was made aware of this attack on those stinking japs...

If the American public knew the whole story about that raid (and about the approximately 250,000 Chinese lives lost to the Japanese response), the celebrations would almost certainly have been much less sanguine.

www.smithsonianmag.com

(In terms of innocent blood lost, that raid was arguably the most expensive morale-building exercise in U.S. military history.)

Doolittle’s autobiography is here:

https://www.amazon.com/Could-Never-Be-Lucky-Again/dp/0553584642/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1CP90VILBXMV3&keywords=doolittle+biography&qid=1650307159&sprefix=doolittle+biography%2Caps%2C1457&sr=8-2

Man did much, much more than just lead a raid on Tokyo.

Thanks Retain Mike.

The Doolittle Raiders Did a Lot [04/18/2022]

“...(In terms of innocent blood lost, that raid was arguably the most expensive morale-building exercise in U.S. military history.)”

Although I’m sure you didn’t mean it, your post sounds like we had some culpability for the subsequent Japanese butchery, we did not. The horrors and atrocities committed by the Japanese in response to that raid and for the help the Chinese gave our downed American pilots is solely the responsibility of Japan.

That raid was brilliant and audacious, and that raid had a profound effect on the Japanese psyche and war strategy going forward. Their new fear of an attack on the Emperor and their home islands caused them to tie down many more resources than they had ever planned.

The Doolittle Raid was one of the best examples of why those Americans are truly in the running for the moniker, the Greatest (American) Generation.

Although I’m sure you didn’t mean it, your post sounds like we had some culpability for the subsequent Japanese butchery, we did not. The horrors and atrocities committed by the Japanese in response to that raid and for the help the Chinese gave our downed American pilots is solely the responsibility of Japan.

Even as the US anticipated a vicious response against China by Japan, I agree that the crimes committed by the Japanese are solely the responsibility of the Japanese that committed them; I am in no way implying any guilt by association.

I would only point out whatever we gained by that raid was overwhelmed by the Chinese blood lost in response to it; had the prediction of 250,000 dead Chinese ever come up before the raid, it would have been immoral to carry it out, as it would have failed the proportionality test.

BTTP

Awesome work, Retain Mike !

Three or so keywords, sorted, duplicates out, non-WWII topics (I think) edited out:

8oth Anniversary Doolittle Raid [04/18/2022]
The Doolittle Raiders Did a Lot [04/18/2022]
The Doolittle Raid April 18, 1942 [04/18/2021]
The Doolittle Raid April 18, 1942 [04/18/2020]
Today's Quotefall Puzzle by Jimmy Doolittle [08/31/2019]
Last of the WWII 'Doolittle Raiders' dies at age 103 [04/12/2019]
The Last of the Doolittle Raiders Is Gone (Dick Cole) [04/12/2019]
Last Doolittle Raider dies: Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole passes at 103 [04/10/2019]
Lt. Col. Richard Cole, the Last Doolittle Raider, Dies at Age 103 [04/09/2019]
Wreck of the World War II aircraft carrier USS Hornet is discovered in the South Pacific (TR) [02/12/2019]
What If We Had Carpet Bombed Japanese Cities After Pearl Harbor? [04/20/2018]
THE DOOLITTLE RAID [04/19/2018]
Trump speaks with last surviving member of ‘Doolittle Raiders’ [07/04/2017]
Last Doolittle Raider to toast to his comrades Tuesday (Today) [04/18/2017]
David Thatcher, Part of ’42 Doolittle Raid on Japan, Dies at 94 [06/23/2016]
1 of 2 remaining Doolittle Raiders dies in Montana [06/22/2016]
WWII hero, last of two surviving ‘Doolittle Raiders,’ turns 100 on Labor Day [09/05/2015]
Reagan Warned about Airbrushing Our History Away [07/03/2015]
The Doolittle Raid [04/18/2015]
Two surviving Doolittle Raiders present Congressional Gold Medal to USAF museum [04/18/2015]
Lt. Col. Robert Hite has died at 95- one of the Dolittle Raiders [03/30/2015]
1 of 4 remaining World War II Doolittle Raiders dies at 94 [01/31/2015]
‘Doolittle Raiders’ receive Congressional Gold Medal [05/26/2014]
Doolittle Raid [04/16/2014]
Live Feed--Doolittle Raiders Last Toast [11/09/2013]
Doolittle Raid [04/18/2013]
Congress Can't Even Get the Easy Ones Right [04/10/2013]
Doolittle Raider (Tom Griffin), Who Shunned Title of ‘Hero,’ Dies [03/01/2013]
Doolittle Raiders share memories of their exploits at EAA [07/25/2012]
Doolittle Raiders: patriots and men of courage when America needed them [04/21/2012]
A gathering of eagles [04/16/2012]
Last Surviving Pilot of 1942's Astonishing 'Doolittle Raid' Col William Bower; History/Memorial [08/05/2011]
Boulder WWII hero Bill Bower dies at 93 ( last of Doolittle's Raiders ) [01/11/2011]
Justice Dept. Drops Doolittle Charges After 6.5 Years of Limbo (what RINO's do to conservatives) [06/11/2010]
Photo essay: Doolittle Raiders meet for 68th reunion [04/19/2010]
B-25 highlights 'Big Whoop'(Fly-In Dec. 12, 2009, Port Lavaca, TX) [12/08/2009]
Doolittle, wife named as unindicted co-conspirators in corruption case [09/29/2009]
Thousands Honor Doolittle Raiders at the 67th Reunion [04/20/2009]
VANITY: Doolittle Raid [04/14/2009]
Member of famed 'Doolittle Raiders' dies [03/17/2008]
McClintock jumps from SoCal into Mother Lode congressional race [03/04/2008]
State senator considers run for Doolittle's congressional seat { Tom McClintock } [02/19/2008]
McClintock mulls run for 4th Congressional District seat [02/18/2008]
McClintock keeps options open: 4th District poll sees senator as a front-runner [02/16/2008]
Rep. Doolittle to announce retirement from Congress [01/10/2008]
Doolittle Raider Nolan Herndon dies at 88 in S.C. [10/08/2007]
B-25s flock to San Marcos (TX) for anniversary of U.S. raid on Japan [04/16/2007]
Air Force legend Col. Chase Nielsen passes away [03/29/2007]
Utah Vet Who Fought Back Against Japan Dies (member of the famed Doolittle Raiders) [03/27/2007]
'Doolittle Goblets' Find New Home [04/20/2006]
Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Celebrate 64th Anniversary [04/19/2006]
B-25 Panchito raises DAV awarness (WWII Air Buffs) [05/25/2005]
Bonnie Henry: The true tale of WWII tunnels [01/14/2005]
December 7th, 1941 -Pearl Harbor Remembrance! [12/07/2004]
Calif. GOP Resolution to honor President Reagan [06/30/2004]
Doolittle Raids Tokyo [04/18/2004]
WWII raiders land: Doolittle fliers back in Tucson for 62nd reunion [04/15/2004]
WWII legends to gather in Tucson, AZ on 62nd anniversary:Last of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders [04/11/2004]
The FReeper Foxhole Profiles General "Jimmy" Doolittle - Mar 8th, 2004 [03/08/2004]
Family, friends remember Doolittle Raider [01/20/2004]
"The Bombing of Tokyo" Doolittle's Raiders and the Story of the USS HORNET [04/19/2002]
Columbia embraces returning Doolittle's Raiders [04/18/2002]

Bttt.

5.56mm

The problem with that line of thinking is that the Japanese were killing the Chinese in job lots long before the raid and continued after.

It is sort of along the lines of, "because you told Jane her job performance sucked she went home and beat her kids".

Jane has been beating her kids since they were born and will continue to do so until she is dead, they are dead or she is in jail.

Evil people do evil things.

The problem with that line of thinking is that the Japanese were killing the Chinese in job lots long before the raid and continued after.

The actions taken by the Japanese in the aftermath of the Doolittle Raid were specifically against those parts of China where they knew the Americans would have had to land the bombers (or bail out of them); the Japanese actions here were done purely out of retaliation against the Chinese for their (presumed) assistance to the American airmen.

That the Japanese were barbaric to the Chinese before and after the Doolittle Raid is, I think, obvious to us all. But if you're suggesting that the Japanese military would have mobilized a week after the Doolittle Raid and gone on a tear for a month to destroy some 20,000 square miles of China and murder an estimated 250,000 people over something else, I don't buy it.

This was the price paid for the Doolittle Raid; while we may not have intended it, we stuck an ally with the bill.

Their goal was to kill off the Chinese race. Would they have done it at that time? Maybe not.

Would they have done it at some point?

Absolutely.

It was sort of like the Warsaw uprising. Did the Nazi's kill everyone involved they could get their hands on? Yes. Were they planning on killing them at some point anyway? Yep.

You would be on far firmer ground in the case of Reinhard Heydrich's assassination as the Czechs were not slated for whole scale extermination in any case.

And if the Japanese threatened to kill a million Chinese for every island we retook from them, should we have sued for peace and let them keep what they murdered to take?

We were attacked, our possessions taken, and our people killed. We were at war, and letting them subjugate the world because of what we were afraid they might do, would have been, in my mind, a greater immorality.

We were at war, and letting them subjugate the world because of what we were afraid they might do, would have been, in my mind, a greater immorality.

If we knew that 250,000 Chinese would die as a result of what was largely a morale-building exercise, should we have asked China for that country's input?

My father met him several times. Gen. Doolittle was on the board at Mutual of Omaha. Nothing but good things to say about the man.

My father met him several times. Gen. Doolittle was on the board at Mutual of Omaha. Nothing but good things to say about the man.

In contrast to the completely immoral losers making up the boards of major corporations today.