Understanding James Doolittle

To the Editor: 
As the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Japan approaches, April 18, it is only fitting that we should have a better understanding of the master behind it. James H. Doolittle was involved in the pioneering of aviation as early as 1917 during America’s entry into World War I as a flying cadet and he was commissioned as a first lieutenant at the age of 21. 
He quickly moved through the ranks as an inquisitive engineering officer who realized the many possibilities of this young phenomenon. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his Master’s and Doctorate (finishing up a year ahead of schedule) and he stressed the importance of getting the engineers and pilots on the “same” page of this newest military weapon.
Doolittle participated in many air speed trials and held seven best times before his 30th birthday. He was an instructor pilot who realized the importance of flying by instruments in all kinds of weather and to that extent he helped develop the artificial horizon and directional gyroscope. He was the first to “fly blind” on takeoff and landing by using only instruments which resulted in much attention and notoriety.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor he was promoted to Lt. Colonel in the U.S.A.A.F., the forerunner of the Air Force, where he was given the task to design a “surprise attack” raid on Japan. Not an easy job since most planes had a range of 1,200 to 1,800 miles which would make it impossible to attack Japan and return safely to the base.
Jim “Dandy” and his staff decided on a risky attempt to takeoff of air craft carriers nearer to Japan, drop their bombs on key cities such as Tokyo and continue flying to a safe haven in China (an ally) and hopefully be rescued.
The major problem was for a bomber to takeoff on a carrier, which had never been achieved. After weeks of practicing on airport runways Doolittle, his 16 B-25’s and 79 volunteers were loaded onto the aircraft carrier, the “Hornet” and headed towards Japan. Doolittle was the 1st pilot to takeoff the carrier, followed successfully by 15 planes.
While the mission was a major moral building victory, it’s damage to the Japanese war industry was minor, however it proved embarrassing  to Japan since no enemy had ever successfully attacked her homeland and the attack reminded the Japanese they were not invincible.
After the raid, Doolittle thought he would be court marshaled because of his early takeoff, the Hornet had been spotted by Japanese patrol boats prior to the scheduled takeoff time, and he lost four members of his squad. Instead, an exalted President Roosevelt bestowed the Medal of Honor on him, promoted Doolittle to Brig. General and presented citations to his crew members.
Not to become an armchair general, Doolittle was assigned commander of the 12th Air Force in North Africa and was involved with the planned invasion of that area. Perhaps, more important, while in that command was his recommendation to four- star General Hap Arnold to include Lt. Col. Paul Tibbits, who was the best pilot under Doolittle’s command, to work on the ongoing development of a long range bomber for a secret mission. Lt. Col. Tibbits went on to fly the Superfortress B-29 which dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima, bringing an end to World War II.
And that my friend is a story for 2020.