Posted by wisbaker on April 19, 2012 at 08:50:23 from (207.118.174.96):
Dusk April 18, 1942 the 16 B-25 aircraft launched of the deck of the USS Hornet are all down. One man was killed during a bailout attempt over water, two more crew members drowned during the crash landing of their aircraft into the China sea. One aircraft made it to, and landed at at Vladivostok Russia, Russian authorities interned them for almost a year. 8 crew members fell into Imperial Japanese hands 3 were later executed as "war criminals" by Japan, one died in captivity from malnutrition and beri-beri, the remaining 4 airmen survived almost 4 years of captivity, most of it spent in solitary confinement. The remaining 64 crew members successfully evaded capture by the Japanese, many with assistance from Chinese nationalists. After returning to service, 12 of them died in aircraft crashes within 15 months, four more were captured by enemy forces and became POWs. The Chinese paid dearly for their assistance, in May 1942 Imperial Japan launches operation Sei-Go, when it's over an estimated 250,000 Chinese nationals are killed in retaliation for aiding the downed aircrews.
Lt Col Doolittle believing the 16 aircraft in his command are all lost and the minimal damage inflicted on the targets is anticipating a Court Marshall for his actions on the previous day. He considers the mission a failure. In fact upon his return to Washington DC he is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the first for action in WWII and is immediately promoted 2 ranks to Brigadier General. He remains a flag grade officer until his retirement.
The lasting effects of the raid- It causes a tremendous boost in American morale AND forces Japan to divert some of it's forces from offensive action to defense of the homeland.
I first got the idea to do this post after reading a similar series of posts another member did in commemoration of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I believe most Americans don't know that we bombed the Japanese mainland only 4 months, 1 week and 4 days after Pearl Harbor. I also want too pay tribute to the aircrews and the others that made this and other missions possible, without their sacrifice our world would be much different today. The hallmark of the greatest generation, they came out of the depression for the most part volunteered for service to their country. They did what they had to do and quietly returned to their lives, many carrying scars that haunted them for the rest of their lives. They didn't demand anything for the most part they did what they felt was expected of freemen in a democracy.
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