Had the day off and been watching the Military channel off and on most of the day.

They just went thru about a 3hrs series on the Doolittle Raid over Japan. Incredible!
And the series is still going on.

I knew about the raid, its outcome, but my God, the details that went into the raid were amazing..
For instance: they bagged the Norden bombsite for a 20c piece of metal that was more accurate below
1500', and removed the rear 50cal guns (to lighten the load) and replaced them with painted broomsticks.

And the launch off the carriers...they showed film of each plane taking off. and one plane didn't have
it's flaps lowered all the way .. whoa.

The #%&*$# that happened back then and the men who did it..

Cool and crazy stuff eh. Enjoy the rest of your day off Piper.Did you ever get the b25 off the carriers in IL2 ?

Ajay, your talking crazy stuff now. I could never get a Wildcat off a carrier...

Signed,
the original Kamikaze, piper

the first time I saw one of those B-25s on display on the USS Yorktown, at Patriot's Point in Charlestown, I was amazed at how small it seemed, for the task it took on.

Heck, if the inside of a B-17 seemed cramped to me I'm sure a B-25 would look tiny by comparison.

Having been in both a B-17 and B-25 while on the ground, I can tell you the B-25 is much smaller!! But the distance to travel thru the cramped areas is at least shorter.

Yes, an amazing operation. Yet more interesting is the story that took place after the raid, by one of the participants, and the connection made with Mitsuo Fuchida, the leader of the attack on Pearl harbor. This is the kind of history you won't see on the History Channel.

The results of Jimmy Doolittle's raid on Japan had a significant effect on the war in the Pacific. (See Glen Hodges and the Battle of Midway.) However, a much different result was that Jacob DeShazer, a participant in the attack, became a Christian after his capture. Even though the Japanese tortured him, DeShazer returned to Japan after the war as an evangelist. Part of his outreach included a pamphlet, I was a Prisoner of Japan. Mitsuo Fuchida, leader of the air attack on Pearl Harbor, read it and became a Christian evangelist himself. The following is DeShazer's pamphlet.


http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~etmcmull/DESHAZER.htm

Is this part of that series called "Missions that Changed the War" narrated by Gary Sinise?

If so, keep an eye out for the other ones called "Germany's Last Ace" with Gunther Rall and "The Flying Tigers"

The Japanese did not appreciate the role China had in helping downed American fliers:

"Enraged Imperial leaders wreaked terrible vengeance upon East China. In May, more than six hundred air raids on towns and villages initiated the retribution. That summer, 100,000 Japanese troops shot, bayoneted, raped, drowned, burned alive and beheaded an estimated 200,000 Chinese civilians and killed up to 50,000 soldiers. As a warning against helping American fliers in the future and to prevent a repetition of the Raid, the Japanese razed to the ground villages through which the airmen had passed."

Law of unintended consequences for sure. For negligible damaage, a boost to American morale, and the shattering of Japanese invinciblity the cost was indeed very high. Such is war.

That was sobering Shredder.

And now, we're friends to the Japanese and fear China.

The book, "The First Heroes" is excellent. Little known Doolittle was so despondent after his plane crashed he was contemplating suicide for a few weeks. They thought the raid was a complete failure.

Ever wonder why the planes had to ditch and crash, leave it to the State Department to frack it up, they had beacons, runways, lights, and reception parties all ready, but forgot to figure in the international date line. Typical even today for that department......

In the series I watched, they had a still photograph (didn't explain how that came about) of Doolittle sitting on his ditched plane's
wing. They mentioned that he was wondering about his Court Martial for the "failed" mission.

We also fought a war against the British twice and now the US and UK have a "Special Relationship" with each other.

Such is the ever changing nature of global politics.