Another Doolittle Raider Gone

Wow...

My Dad's roomate in college was on the raid... don't remember his name offhand, not at my desk.

He did not survive the mission.

 

o/t I spoke to a pilot who was assigned to the 19th Pursuit before WW II. He was a Pearl Harbor survivor. Just after the attack, they pulled stored P-26's out of the crates and flew CAP missions with the Peashooter over the Hawaiian Islands. Years later, he became the XO of the 506th Wing (F-100D) - Tinker AFB in the late 1950's.

In less than twenty years, he went from the 'operational' Peashooter to the Hun . (Open cockpit and fixed landing gear to supersonic performance).





G/D Bless the brave B-25 crews. They lifted the American morale !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

From memory (not faultless)

Don Fitzmaurice... think I recall Dad calling him ''Don".

 

The footage of those binders taking off the Hornet is mesmerizing. In addition to morale, some say the raid made the Japanese leadership careless, precipitating the battle of Midway, the turning point in the Pacific War. Regardless, those guys are heros. Can't imagine the thoughts that went through their heads as they took off the carrier...T

 

...and/or drowned. Landed in the sea.

I think that's him. Dad's roomate finished one year of college then enlisted, so did he.

Unfortunately, my Dad passed 17 years ago, so I cannot ask him. Wish I knew for sure.

 

...yes, having to takeoff way too early, knowing they didn't have fuel to get to their landing zones.

 

Greatest generation indeed, and even among those the Raiders were special. The first real boost in morale the American public enjoyed since Dec 1941.

My father flew P-47Ds with the 86th FBG in France and Germany. He went in 2003. The youngest of them were born in 1928 and are now at least 88.

 

So I was lurking through F-Chat this morning when I came across this thread. I happen to live in Oahu and went to Pearl Harbor and the Pacific Aviation Museum today. They have a B-25 display depicting the Doolittle Raid. There is also a list of crew losses.
The Greatest Generation!
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How many recent college graduates do you think would know what the Doolittle raid was?

 

Many of them have no clue when WW-II was or who the main protagonists were.

 

Last year I had the opportunity to fly in a B-25 when it visited my home city.

It was a once in a lifetime experience.

The planes is incredibly noisy, no insulation, only a single layer of aluminum and a skeletal framework separating you from the open air.

When I mentioned the cost of the flight to a couple of friends they exclaimed "it cost how much?" I told them that they could have flown in one for free...... 70+ years ago.

I wasn't really paying for the flight, I was paying for the privilege of not getting shot at while in the air.

To the brave souls who flew those missions over enemy territory, my generation owes you a debt of gratitude.

Thank you

 

Reading through the story about the raid I caught myself wondering what happened to the chinese people on the ground after the mission.

"250 000 chinese killed in retaliation for aiding the american airmen."

That is over 50% of total US casualities in WW2. The japanese brutality and magnitude of war crimes in China is just mindboggling.

 

I fear that your pessimism is likely well founded. I've probably watched the launch footage from the Hornet dozens of times in documentaries and it just beggars belief. Watching those big bombers rise & then dip as they clear the carrier deck, unbelievable. All volunteers. All heroes. Greatest Generation, indeed...T

 

True, but for some reason the Japanese get a pass for all of it.

 

From what I've read, the desire to get Japan back on her feet as quickly as possible, and with a pro-Western government, as a bulwark against Soviet expansionism led to many atrocities being overlooked or downplayed...T

 

This.

Was also a reason for the 'Bombs'... the US had to end the war in Japan before the Russians invaded Japan...

The Russians were quickly mobilizing to do just that.

Japan would have been divided up like Germany... Russians with an ice-free port on the Pacific... not good.

US could not let that happen.

 

Just watch the recent movie "Unbreakable" for some idea of the treatment of POWs.

 

It was much, much worse than "Unbreakable"... and you need to read the book "Unbreakable"... not the toned down movie.
(This is graphic.)

From Bradley's book "Flyboys", an excellent book about WW II flyers:

An American Pilot was beheaded in front of his comrades, his liver cut out and eaten by the camp commander, and:

"Senior Japanese Army Officers hosted a Sake party for their Navy counterparts where the livers of American POWs were roasted and served as an appetizer. The Japanese Navy officers subsequently reciprocated by hosting a party where they butchered and served their own American POWs.[1]
The book also documents Japanese cannibalization of not only the livers of freshly killed prisoners, but also the cannibalization-for-sustenance of living prisoners over the course of several days, amputating limbs only as needed to keep the meat fresh in the harsh jungle environment. It also cites cannibalism of Allied soldiers killed in action and of Japanese dead, wounded and by lot drawings.[3]
These atrocities on Chichi-jima, were discovered in late 1945 and was investigated as part of the war crimes trials. In 1946, 30 Japanese soldiers were court-martialed on Guam and four officers (Maj. Matoba, Gen. Tachibana, Adm. Mori and Capt. Yoshii) were found guilty and hanged. All of the enlisted men were released within eight years..."

 

I've read the book. I've also read "Baa Baa Black Sheep" which describes similar events, and actually some of the same camps as 'Unbreakable." The main failing of the movie of "Unbreakable," in my opinion, is that it left out what happened to Zamperini after the war.

Were those camps the worst that the Japanese had to offer? Certainly not, as they killed a lot of POWs rather than bother with keeping them.

 

Agree.

Especially Zamparini's 'salvation'.
Promoting religion is very unpopular in Hollywood.

And, yes Greg Boyington was in the same POW camp as Zamparini for a time. (I met Boyington before an airshow here in Colorado many years ago.)

 

Yes..they weren't only executed but tortured..that seems to get lost in history re writes...
a lot of folks blame MacArthur for not pursuing war crimes to the full extent.....