Today is the 66th anniversary of the famous Tokyo Raid, led by General (then Lieutenant Colonel) Jimmy Doolittle. Wherein Gen. Doolittle and his brave men flew B-25s off of aircraft carriers to strike the heart of Imperial Japan. USAAF bombers…flying off of Navy carriers. As SJS sez: "Joint" before Joint was kewl.
Steeljaw Scribe has a great post (with video!) commemorating the event. And, as noted in the title, yet another good great read.
Do go.
The Great Generation, eh Buck?
ReplyDeleteI know you used the plural in referring to the number of carriers, but the bombers were only on the Hornet. The Enterprise was there, but she carried only fighter aircraft I believe.
But a good remembrance nevertheless. Read about it when I was a youngster. Thanks.
You're right about the Hornet, and I knew that. I was using the plural in the generic sense...
ReplyDeleteI read "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" when I was eight years old, or a lil over ten years after the raid itself. As I mentioned over at SJS' place, that book had a profound and lasting impact on my young mind, and was one of the reasons I chose the Air Force as a career. Funny how one knows what one wants to be, at such an early age...
Very cool! Doolittle is one of Jesse's heroes - she read and did reports on him when she was younger.
ReplyDeletecatmoves:
ReplyDeleteYep, Enterprise only carried fighters, but because of the way that the B-25's locked the Hornet's deck, the Enterprise would've provided the sole air cover if called upon. As such, she was a very much needed asset for this operation, all the more risky because of the paucity of carriers in the Pacific at this point in the war.
You know, so much could've gone wrong at so many places with some pretty profound results. Jump forward 38 years to another cobbled together, shoe-string op that had it succeeded, would've quite likely left the Middle East in a different condition than it is today. That one is personal to me as I was on IKE enroute to the IO w/12 specops helos onbd figuring we'd be pulling off our own Doolittle raid. Sadly, 'twas not to be...
-SJS
Buck, funny I read the same book, checkout of a Bookmobile in ABQ and it affected me in almost the same way. I wanted to be in the Navy and work on a Flight Deck. How's that, pretty funny. I did get there pulling Med Cruise's on board the USS Independance (CV-62) and the USS D.D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). I grew up in NM and went off and spent almost 5 full years on sea duty. I did two years on shore duty in PA and have lived there ever since. Just can't find a good excuse to get back to NM. I do miss it though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've read that post too! And I agree that it was a good read! Brings back in history. =D
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