America's Story (part 17) - The Last of the Doolittle Raiders

smithsk.blogspot.com ^ | 11 April 2015 | smithsk

[NEWwoman]

wikipedia/Doolittle Raider RL Hite blindfolded by Japanese 1942

Ever hear of the Doolittle Raiders?

On Sunday, March 29, 2015, one of the last of the Doolittle Raiders, Robert Hite, passed away at 95.   [reference:  Robert Hite, 95, Survivor of Doolittle Raid and Japanese Imprisonment, Dies - NYTimes.com ]

And his obituary included the photo, shown above in this public domain picture.  And it can be found on wikipedia with the following description:

U.S. Army Air Force Lt. Robert L. Hite, blindfolded by his captors, is led from a Japanese transport plane after he and the other seven flyers were flown from Shanghai to Tokyo. Hite was co-pilot of crew 16 (B-25B s/n 40-2268 Bat out of Hell, 34th Bomb Squadron) of the "Doolittle Raiders". After about 45 days in Japan, all eight were taken back to China by ship and imprisoned in Shanghai. On 15 October 1942 three were executed, one died in captivity. The four others, including Hite, were liberated on 20 August 1945.

And here's some background to this story.

December 7, 1941  

The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, caught America by surprise and the country was not prepared for war.

Below is an inspiring clip for the Pearl Harbor (2001), where FDR gathered his top advisers to come up with plan to strike back at the heart of Japan.

(reference:  https://youtu.be/PFhY6IaUJ40 )

The Doolittle Raid

In the clip above, the scene ends with the entrance of Captain Francis S. "Frog" Low.  This submarine officer formed an ingenious strategy, launching army bombers from an aircraft carrier.  This gave birth to the Doolittle Raid.

* Spring of 1942

Those early days of the war, American moral was at its nadir.  Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific had pushed American troops into retreat.  Many men were lost in the fall of the Philippines, culminating in the infamous Bataan Death March.

* April 18, 1942 

Meanwhile, Lt. Colonel James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle trained and lead a crew of 80 to strike back.  So on April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25s took off from the desk of the USS Hornet, 650 miles south of Japan.
    

For more about this, read:  Doolittle Tokyo Raiders - Official Web Site of the Raiders

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo became the title of the book (1943) written by Ted Lawson and the movie (1944)  as shown in this clip below:

( reference: https://youtu.be/laLYsAUu1-0 )

Those critical 30 seconds, April 18, 1942, was a great moral boost for America.  Though the war would not end for three more years, September 1945, the Doolittle Raid gave hope that we could win.

For a list of the 80 men that took part in the raid, 5 men in each of the 16 planes, check out:  Doolittle Raider 80 Brave Men

The sacrifice 

Here are the causalities of the brave men who suffered and gave their lives:

* One man, Faktor, was killed on a bail-out after the mission

* Two men, Fitzmaurice and Dieter, drown in a crash landing off the China coast

* Eight men, Hallmark, Meder, Nielsen, Farrow, Hite, Barr, Spatz, and DeShazer,
     were captured by the Japanese:
     *  Three men executed by firing squad:  Hallmark, Farrow, and Spatz
     *  One died as a POW from malnutrition, Meder
     *  The remaining four, Nielsen, Hite, Barr, and DeShazer,
          survived 40 months of prison,
          most of which was in solitary confinement
     *  And Hite lived till 95, passing away March 29, 2015

* Capt. Ted W. Lawson  survived his plane's crash off the coast of China.
    Though the underground rescued him, his injured leg had to be amputated.
     He lived to write the book, turned movie:  Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

Now only two of the original Doolittle Raiders survive as I type (April 11, 2015):  retired Lt. Col. Richard Cole and Staff Sgt. David Thatcher.

* April 12, 1945

FDR would not live to see the allied victory over Europe or Japan, as he died on April 12, 1945.  But this Commander-in-Chief, struggling with a debilitating handicap, gave courage to the country to carry on, to take risks, to do what it takes to win, and to never give up during dark days.

And the Doolittle Raid is part of America's story.

[NEWwoman]

April marks some key anniversaries from World War Two. April 12, FDR passed away - 70 years ago. But in 1942, this Commander-in-Chief urged his commanders to take bold action to fight back. That led to the Doolittle Raid - April 18, 1942.

And I felt compelled to write this blog post will news of the passing of Robert Hite, March 29. Only two are left.

We all are in deft to this men to their service and sacrifice to our country.

[laplata]

Thanks for posting this, NEWwoman. God bless them all.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo was on TCM last night.

[MrEdd]

It tells volumes about how abysmal public education in general and collegiate journalism curricula in particular are when a piece like this could possibly be written with an assumption that there would be people reading it with so little knowledge of the second world War as to be clueless about the Doolittle raids.

[NEWwoman]

Thank you, laplata, for your encouragement.

[NEWwoman]

Great movie, AEMILIUS PAULUS. It took me a while to figure out the captain, played by Van Johnson, was the one that wrote the book and he really did lose his leg.

[NEWwoman]

Right, MrEdd. I recall in Reagan’s last speech as president, he urged parents to teach their children at the dinner table - and he mentioned those 30 seconds over Tokyo and the Doolittle Raid

[DuncanWaring]

Doolittle Raiders Last Toast.

[NEWwoman]

Many thanks for the link, DuncanWaring

[yarddog]

I guess in the long run it worked out OK as it probably led to the battle of Midway.

Still I wonder if it was really worth it. We lost 16 scarce B-25s and most of the crews for very little damage to Japan.

I know, it was to boost morale. Still I don’t think it was a good idea. Of course if they had launched maybe 500 miles closer to Japan, they may have saved most of the planes.

[FatherofFive]

Those critical 30 seconds, April 18, 1942, was a great moral boost for America. Though the war would not end for three more years, September 1945, the Doolittle Raid gave hope that we could win.

Still amazing that the US defeated Germany and Japan in less time than it took 0bama to build a website that didn't work.

[cpdiii]

The raid was of little military importance. In fact if you look at the losses verses the damage it inflicted it was a military disaster. However, war is both on the battlefield and in the mind of the enemy. The warlords of Japan swore not one American bomb or soldier would ever hit Japan. Four short months later we dropped bombs on them. It was a raid with a terrible price for our airmen.

Most importantly the warlords then knew we would kill them in the end. Yamamoto counseled the warlords against this raid. He was educated in the United States and knew what would happen. Fortunately the warlords were wrong and Yamamoto was right. The attack on Pearl Harbor awakened the sleeping giant.

The raid was insignificant but the psychological effect was like the hammer of Thor. Although it was done at great sacrifice it was a good call by our president and military.

[yarddog]

The sheer magnitude of WWII is amazing.

The Germans bagging a million Russian POWs in a single battle and more than once. Germans losing hundreds of thousands in prolonged battles.

Hundreds of planes or tanks lost in single battles. Thousands of ships engaged in battles.

Nothing like it since or ever again.

[GreyFriar]

Thank you for posting this reminder of the Doolittle Raiders and LTC Hite’s recent passing.

“Now only two of the original Doolittle Raiders survive as I type (April 11, 2015): retired Lt. Col. Richard Cole and Staff Sgt. David Thatcher.”

[BradyLS]

I though you were going to talk about the spelling and grammar in the story. Did you know, for example, that sixteen B-25’s launched from the _desk_ of the USS Hornet???

[Flag_This]

"I guess in the long run it worked out OK as it probably led to the battle of Midway."

Coincidentally, I'm reading "The Aviators" (about Doolittle, Rickenbacker and Lindbergh) and I just finished reading the assessment of the Doolittle Raid. The author said that the raid caused the Japanese to shift assets to the defense of Japan that had previously gone to their offensive efforts. It did lead to Midway, like you said; but most importantly, the U.S. intercepted more Japanese military radio traffic than they had ever intercepted before, as a direct result of the raid. Before the raid the U.S. was able to decipher about 10% of the Japanese military code, but a week after, they were deciphering 50%.

[BradyLS]

No kidding. That’s the big difference between a ‘can do’ attitude and a ‘hope-n-change’ attitude.

[BradyLS]

‘though’ should be ‘thought’...

[razorback-bert]

I went to military school with his son and his father addressed the corps at chapel one day.

[yarddog]

Those American workers of the 30s and 40s were about as good as it gets.

For instance, the Hoover Dam, The Empire State Building and other construction projects were typically built ahead of schedule and under budget.

Our production capacity in WWII was not just luck. It was due to hard work and ability. A shipyard in Washington State once built a liberty ship in 3 days.