The Doolittle Raid

St. Martin’s Press, 1988

It is April 19, 1942, and the legendary pilot Jimmy Doolittle has just led 16 twin-engine airplanes in a bombing raid on Tokyo, the first American strike at Japan since the enemy’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor more than four months before. The boost to American morale is enormous. The Japanese are stunned. Judgment shattered, their military leaders commit the fleet to the disastrous battle at Midway. It is the turning point of the war and the first step toward the ultimate Allied victory.

The Doolittle Raid is the story of this attack and of the 80 young men, ill-equipped but determined, who beat incredible odds to complete a daring, dangerous, and vital mission.

Drawing on unpublished Air Force and Navy documents and interviews, diaries and letters, war crimes trials, and other sources, Schultz writes a fascinating account of this historic mission to launch Army bombers from Navy carriers 650 miles from the coast of Japan. He tells of the planning, the White House secrecy, and the raid’s tragic aftermath.

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