[Jen]

... I think they are going to make you a General and pin the Congressional Medal of Honor on you."

And they did!

The raid was a triumph. The Japanese High Command were so alarmed by the American's ability to strike at their homeland they attempted to expand the perimeter of activity in the central and southern Pacific - with disastrous results. Lt. Col. Doolittle was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in recognition of the extraordinary feat he and his gallant crews performed.

[DeaconBenjamin]

Actually, I have read the opposite (in the biography of the pilot who led the Pearl Harbor attack). He stated that the fleets in the SW Pacific and Indian Ocean were pulled back to ensure the safety of the home islands--at a critical time when the US and UK had next to nothing with which to oppose them.