Posted on 04/18/2022 10:45:28 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
A B-29 flew over my house this morning in Fort Worth. I recognized the distinct sound of multiple radial engines. I went outside but it was gone so I used flightradar24.com to identify it.
My uncle fought on Okinawa and said, “The Japs had no souls!”
He’s now 97 and still despises them.
That was the place to be. I was in DLI in 83-84, Russian language. Interviewed one pf the older Russian female teachers who had lived through the siege of Leningrad and used the information for an article on that siege in a magazine.
My one and only paid published article. I am told that means I am a pro. Cause I got paid.
As much courage as that raid took and the fact that it led to the Battle of Midway where the Kido Butai (Japan’s mobile strike force which had been kicking the crap out of the Allies) was wiped out, Jimmy Doolittle’s biggest contribution was probably when he took over command of the 8th Air Force.
He ordered the fighters to STOP protecting the bombers....to STOP escorting them closely. Instead their mission would now be to destroy the Luftwaffe. We were willing to incur extra high casualties among the bomber crews for a short time in order to break the back of the Luftwaffe by specifically hunting their fighter planes, and following them down to their airfields and attacking them there if necessary - whatever it took to knock out the German fighters. It worked. After “Big Week” in Spring of 1944 when we attacked Berlin specifically to force them to come out to fight, we destroyed so many Luftwaffe fighters that we had air dominance over Europe after that.
The loss rate for the Bombers went way down and British and American fighter-bombers were free to roam at will over the battlefield.
it is pretty certain that the Japanese did NOT know of the attack before the planes were over Japan.”
The operation was sighted by Japanese “picket ships”, several of which were sunk, and rescuees interrogated. B-25s launched early.
Radio intercept from “MY CT2 Navy People”. Pictures and intel here:
https://stationhypo.com/?s=Doolittle+
Japan had to commit war machinery to the home islands as a result.
Yes and this was an important outcome from the raid, but the piercing of the psyche of the Japanese military and their leaders was of the highest importance not to mention the rallying effect it on our forces and nation.
To put it in perspective if I remember correctly we dropped approximately 1/1000th of the ordnance as a standard B-29 raid package put on Tokyo in a day at the end of the war.
As a former Army officer and student of military history it remains one of the greatest chapters in warfare in my humble opinion. Amazing men, an audacious plan and idea, and a huge rallying cry (like the Alamo) for a nation and military that desperately needed one.
My dad was a Hump Pilot in the China Burma India Campaign. He got to meet a couple of the Doolittle men when they toured Japan .
“Too bad that their sacrifice is being thrown away today by our ‘leaders’.”
All the millions of border-crossers appreciate their sacrifice.
/
—For the life of me I still do not understand why some FReepers fail at basic reading?
Perhaps an eye exam may help.
Pls, see #9 and #20, if you can see them through your blind rage?
The book and film “#0 Seconds Over Tokyo does a pretty good job telling the story of the Doolittle Raid.
That was really dissapointing to me when nobody knew the answer. Also, I’m always amazed at simple Bible questions that never get answered.
Doolittle’s autobiography
He did a LOT more than fly a mission over Tokyo. He was one smart engineer, (with a PhD from MIT no less), and an excellent commander of men.
“My dad was a Hump Pilot in the China Burma India Campaign.”
Another job that required fierce inner resolve and balls of steel. Many an air crew perished in crashes flying The Hump.
My comment was to how the Raid was Effective, and the damage done by the bombs to infrastructure was minimal.
However the damage done to Japanese Morale and the Confidence in the Capability of the Japanese Military was Significant, and spurred further Japanese mistakes in Tactics.
Additionally, I am perfectly fine with US Government/Military Propaganda through the close of WWII.
Of course I got along fine with Japanese when I was there, I mistreated no one, but I pulled no punches regarding their Wartime conduct.
Me too! 01-85. Where did you go after? I had a blast because I was TDY the whole time there :) Then got stationed at Ft Polk and Field Station Berlin after.
“Allegedly that happened because Lt. Col. Doolittle wasn’t scheduled to fly but jumped into the pilot seat of Plane #1.”
Doolittle was an exceptional pilot.
He was so good that he was kept stateside during WW1 training pilots who went on to gain fame and notoriety in the skies of Europe.
Doolittle knew he would never get another chance to fly in battle so he jumped at the chance when Task Force 18 was approaching Japan.
Due to maintaining radio silence Task Force Commander Captain Marc Mitscher had little recourse when Doolittle announced he would be piloting the lead plane.
The rest is history.
Went to Ft Monmouth, then to Germany. Although I was at Ft Polk in 89 just before it moved to Ft Hood.
Was it still 105th MI? I left in Oct 87 to go to Berlin. Probably everyone I knew there had PCS’d by 1989.
105th MI until we got to Ft Hood and became the 2AD. I went over to West Ft Hood and spent my time deploying to fun places.
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