1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. In our recent episode on the balloons of 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: World War Two, we talked about how Japan's development of 3 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 1: balloon bombs was spurred on by wanting away to strike 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: back at the United States after the Doolittle Raid. Our 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: episode on Jimmy Doolittle and the Doolittle Raid came out 6 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: on February tenth, twenty sixteen, and it is Today's Saturday Classic. 7 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: In this episode, I speculated on whether Jimmy Doolittle had 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: ever met another figure from a long ago podcast episode, 9 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: which was physicist Luis Alvarez. It seemed like they would 10 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:37,160 Speaker 1: have gotten along to me. It turns out yes they did. 11 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: In Alvarez's memoir, he described Jimmy Doolittle as one of 12 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: his two principal heroes of aviation, the other one being 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: Chuck Yeager, and he said that those two men were 14 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: the only two people he ever asked for an autograph 15 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: in his adult life. Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed 16 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: in History Class, a production of My Heart Radio. Hello 17 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: and Welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm 18 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: Tracy B. Wilson. In today's episode is a request from 19 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: listener Laura and her son and I don't think she 20 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,119 Speaker 1: put her son's name in the email, but in truth, 21 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: it's only sort of a request from them. Her son 22 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: asked for the Doolittle Raid, which I was game to cover. 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: But really what ended up happening was that as I 24 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: was researching, I got really excited about Jimmy Doolittle himself, 25 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: because he was pretty amazing and I certainly had no 26 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: idea how much he contributed to the field of aviation. 27 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: So I got really engulfed in that, really really enjoyed it. 28 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: So we are going to talk about the Doolittle Raid, 29 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,960 Speaker 1: but it will definitely be like an abridged version. We're 30 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: not gonna go into all of the many details. There 31 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: have been plenty of books written about it, so don't 32 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: worry because if you really want to dig deeper, there 33 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: is a lot of good stuff out there, including James 34 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: Doolittle's autobiography, which I really enjoyed and highly recommend. But 35 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: first we have to do a little bit of historical 36 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: housekeeping for context. So that historical housekeeping is the attack 37 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 1: on Pearl Harbor. On December seventh, nineteen forty one, there 38 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: was a two hour surprise attack on an American naval 39 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: base near Honolulu, Hawaii. Japanese fighter pilots just wrought incredible 40 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: damage on Pearl Harbor, both in terms of human life 41 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: and lost military assets. By the time this short but 42 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: extremely brutal attack had ended, more than two thousand American 43 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: tapes were dead and a thousand were wounded, and the 44 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: Japanese pilots had taken out eight battleships, almost a dozen 45 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,839 Speaker 1: other naval watercraft, and more than three hundred airplanes. This 46 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: is the action that led the United States to enter 47 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: World War Two, which had already been going on for 48 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: two years, and at that point the United States formally 49 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: declared war on Japan. So keep that in mind, and 50 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: now we're going to talk for a little bit about 51 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 1: James Doolittle. So he was really the he figure in 52 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: the Doolittle Raid and the man it was eventually named after, 53 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: Jimmy Doolittle. It was also called the Tokyo Raid before 54 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: it kind of took on the nickname of the Doolittle Raid. 55 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: Jimmy was born James Harold Doolittle on December fourteenth of 56 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,959 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety six in California, and his parents were Rose 57 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: Shepherd Doolittle and Frank H. Doolittle, Frank chased gold. It's 58 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: how he and Rose ended up in California, having moved 59 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: there from New England in search of wealth. And when 60 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: Jimmy was four, Frank once again moved the family in 61 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: search of gold, but this time to Nome, Alaska. After 62 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: seven years in Alaska, where he got into plenty of 63 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: scraps with the other local kids, Jimmy was sent back 64 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: to California by his parents so that he could go 65 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: to school there. As he moved into his teenage years, 66 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: he showed some talent in boxing, and he won a 67 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: state boxing championship while he was in high school. While 68 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: he considered going pro in the boxing ring, he enrolled 69 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: at UCLA instead, and Doolittle was a junior in college 70 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: when the US entered World War One. He immediately enlisted 71 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: as an Army Signal Corps flying cadet. He worked as 72 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: a flying instructor and he was never shipped overseas, and 73 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: once the war was over, he went back and finished 74 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: his undergraduate degree at University of California, Los Angeles, and 75 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: then he went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 76 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: as part of a select military group of enrollees to 77 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: earn his master's degree and his PhD in aeronautical engineering. 78 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 1: Jimmy Doolittle was a legend before the raid because his 79 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: life was one of those that was really just filled 80 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: with bravado and extraordinary feats. He worked as a stunt 81 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: pilot and as a wing walker in the nineteen twenties 82 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: and thirties, and he went on to work as a 83 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:42,599 Speaker 1: test pilot and an aviation engineer throughout he was still 84 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,359 Speaker 1: part of the United States Military. He won the Distinguished 85 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: Flying Cross in nineteen twenty two for flying cross country 86 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: with just one stop from Pablo Beach, Florida to Rockwell, California, 87 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: over the course of twenty two and a half hours 88 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: in a de Haviland aircraft. It was a flight that 89 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 1: had been a ordered on his first attempt because as 90 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: he was taking off, the left wheel of his plane 91 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: hit a soft sand patch and the plane went off 92 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: course and actually ended up flipped upside down in the water, 93 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 1: and Doolittle was mortally embarrassed by this much publicized flop 94 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: because there had been a lot of people on hand 95 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: to witness this takeoff. But he did try again later, 96 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,599 Speaker 1: and this time he did it with no fanfare or 97 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: press on hand. His second attempt was rough because a 98 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 1: storm came up just as he took flight, but he 99 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: powered through it. He struggled with sleepiness because after the 100 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: thunderstorm things were so placid that he started to get sleepy, 101 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: but the rain itself was what actually saved him. These 102 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: rain drops that were hitting his propeller were being whipped 103 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: back at him and ended up running down his back. 104 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: The cold trickles of all this water were really annoying, 105 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: but they also kept him from dozing off. And his 106 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: award came because with this flight he had basically proven 107 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: that it was possible to move an Army Air Corps 108 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: unit anywhere within the US in less than twenty four hours, 109 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,160 Speaker 1: and this was just one of many awards that he 110 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: would earn throughout his career in flight. In early nineteen 111 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: twenty five, which was the same year that he earned 112 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: his doctorate, he set a world record for a seaplane 113 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: of two hundred thirty two miles an hour in the 114 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: Schneider's Seaplane Race in Baltimore, Maryland. He had fitted an 115 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: existing racing plane that had been developed cooperatively with the 116 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: Army and the Navy with pontoons to enter the seaplane race. 117 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 1: The day after the race, he took the craft out 118 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: again and beat his own world record that he had 119 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 1: just set, putting it pushing it up to two hundred 120 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: forty five miles an hour. This turned out to cause 121 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: some sour grapes that race had historically been dominated by 122 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: Navy pilots, so they weren't really thrilled to lose the 123 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: title to an army guy who would just decided on 124 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 1: a whim that he wanted to fly seaplanes. Yeah, he was, 125 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: you know, kind of one of those people that was 126 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: extraordinary and that when he set his mind to do something, 127 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 1: he was usually shockingly good at it. Later, in nineteen 128 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: twenty five, he got permission for a six month long 129 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: leave from his military career, and this was to work 130 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: as an aircraft demonstrator in South America, showing off the 131 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: quality and maneuverability of Curtis P one Hawk fighters. He 132 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: headed first to Santiago, Chile in nineteen twenty six, so 133 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: he gotten the permission in twenty five, but he actually 134 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: left in twenty six, and there he got in a 135 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: dog fight competition like a competition flight, not an actual 136 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: dog fight, against German ace Ernst von Schonbeck of the 137 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: Richtofen flying circus that name rings a bell. It was 138 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: not actually a circus. It was a World War One 139 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: German fightery unit, nicknamed for using very colorful airplanes. So 140 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: Doolittle was going up against really stiff competition and he 141 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: managed to win, which might be impressive enough on its own, 142 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: but there's actually more to the story. Yeah, at the 143 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: time of this competition, Doolittle was flying with two broken ankles. 144 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: He had fallen from a window during a party, attempting 145 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: to show off that he could do similar swashbuckling stunts 146 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: to those of screen star Douglas Fairbanks. And if you're wondering, yes, 147 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: alcohol was involved in this poor decision making. After the fall, 148 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: Doolittle had attached his boots to the rudders of his 149 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: plane so that he could continue to fly and do 150 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: the job that he had traveled to South America for, 151 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: and that was the state he was in when he 152 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: was challenged by this German pilot. I kind of want 153 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: to look into whether he and Luis Alvarez knew each other, 154 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: because it seems like from our episode on him, which 155 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: is long ago in the archive, at this point they 156 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,439 Speaker 1: probably would have gotten along. I would think so, yes, 157 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: it sounds like lots of people got along with Jimmy Doolittle. 158 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: He sounds like a fabulous and fascinating gent to know. 159 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: So after he went back to the United States, the 160 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: doctors at Walter Reed rounded him and really really grounded him. 161 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: He wasn't allowed to do much of anything for six 162 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: months because flying in casts using the workaround set up 163 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: that he had figured out had really done serious damage 164 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: to his legs. But being the man that he was, 165 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: he did not just sit around doing nothing during that time. 166 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: And we're going to talk about what he worked on 167 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,959 Speaker 1: while he was recuperating, but first let's pause and take 168 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: a quick break to talk about one of our much 169 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: loved sponsors. So, instead of sitting idle while on forced rest, 170 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: Doolittle used his convalescence to return to the subject that 171 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,199 Speaker 1: he had written his dissertation on, which was pilots blacking 172 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: out during extreme maneuvers, and he started to think specifically 173 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: about stunt flying in blackouts. So prior to this time, 174 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: and I really feel compelled to mention that at this 175 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: point flying planes had only been happening for a little 176 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 1: more than two decades. This was the mid twenties and 177 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,199 Speaker 1: the Wright Brothers and their Kill Devil Hills adventures. We're 178 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: in the early nineteen hundreds, so it's a really tight timeframe. 179 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: So he was thinking about stunt flying and the fact 180 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: that only inside loops had been performed in flight up 181 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 1: to this point, and an outside loop was considered too dangerous. 182 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: So if you don't know what those are, an inside loop, 183 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 1: if you were to draw a picture on a piece 184 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,680 Speaker 1: of paper of a plane doing a loop like a 185 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: loop to loop, an inside loop, the pilot would always 186 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: be inside the circle. That's where the cockpit is, always 187 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: facing up into the circle, whereas an outside loop, the 188 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: pilot would be on the outside of the plane or 189 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: on the outside of the circle facing outward. He was 190 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: really fascinated by the idea of an outside loop, and 191 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: he took advantage of this forced downtime at while to 192 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: read to speak with other pilots who were being treated 193 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,479 Speaker 1: there and get their thoughts on outside loops. He pondered 194 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: the idea from an engineering standpoint, trying to figure out 195 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: just what might happen to the human body during that 196 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: kind of a stunt. So, of course, the minute he 197 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: was cleared to fly again, he started testing out his ideas. 198 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: He ran various partial loop tests before becoming the first 199 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: known pilot to successfully complete an outside loop in nineteen 200 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: to twenty seven. Never one to rest on his laurels, clearly, 201 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,680 Speaker 1: he continued to do some innovative and adventurous things, and 202 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: two years later, on September twenty ninth of nineteen twenty nine, 203 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: Jimmy Doolittle made the first blind flight using instruments only 204 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,760 Speaker 1: in Nassau County in New York. Prior to that, pilots 205 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: were depending on visuals a great deal on what they 206 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 1: could actually see out the cockpit window, but he had 207 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 1: developed a beacon system to give pilots a sense of 208 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: location when no visuals were possible, and with that he 209 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: basically kicked off the development of the modern cockpit. He 210 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: also received the Daniel Guggenheim Medal for Advancing Aeronautics and 211 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: the Harmon Trophy for Outstanding Aviation as well for having 212 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:42,439 Speaker 1: done this amazing thing. The following year, which was nineteen thirty, 213 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 1: Jimmy Doolittle retired from active duty with the Army Air Corps. 214 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: He spent the next decade taking home trophies for winning 215 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: speed races and working at Shell Oil while the company 216 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: developed high octane fuel that would eventually become the standard 217 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,959 Speaker 1: for military aircraft. After ten years away from the military, 218 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: James Doolittle was recalled for active duty in nineteen forty 219 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: after Hitler invaded Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium in France. 220 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: He was forty three at the time, and he was 221 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: tasked with fulfilling the Army Air Corps need to produce 222 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: fifty thousand planes each year rather than the two thousand 223 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: that they had been producing, because even though the US 224 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: at this point had not joined the war, they wanted 225 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: to be ready working with Detroit car manufacturers. Despite neither 226 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: the auto industry nor the army being particularly keen on 227 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: that kind of partnership, Doolittle was able to succeed in 228 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: this mandate. By the end of nineteen forty one, Ford 229 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: was producing the consolidated B twenty four bomber. But even 230 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: though this was really a huge feather in his cap 231 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 1: and he had performed above and beyond what had been 232 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: expected or hoped for, Doolittle was pretty miserable. He just 233 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: didn't like this. He didn't like a desk job, and 234 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: he wanted to return to really active duty. And he 235 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: made requests for a transfer to go to a combat 236 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: unit through all of the appropriate channels, but he basically 237 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: got turned down every time and got constant resistance. But 238 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: then finally in January of nineteen forty two, he received 239 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: a call and was tasked with a secret mission, and 240 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 1: his job was to plan and execute an air raid 241 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: against Japan. The attack on Pearl Harbor that we talked 242 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 1: about at the top of the show and the events 243 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: that came after it set the United States on edge 244 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 1: and the Pacific. US troops did not fare well against 245 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: the Japanese and things weren't really going well in Europe either. 246 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: Something had to be done to neutralize Japan's forces if 247 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: the United States was going to make any headway in 248 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 1: the Pacific. After several months of planning, Doolittle and his 249 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: men were ready. On April eighteenth of nineteen forty two, 250 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 1: sixteen B twenty five Mitchell bombers with a total of 251 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: eighty volunteer crewmen launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet. Their 252 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: flight began six hundred and twenty miles away from Japan, 253 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: and the original plan had called for a takeoff from 254 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: the Hornet at approximately four hundred miles from Japan's coast, 255 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: but because a fishing boat spotted the carrier, things had 256 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 1: to be revised at the last minute. Because their position 257 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: had been called in, the B twenty fives had been 258 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 1: fitted with extra fuel tanks, which meant that they lost 259 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: armament in the process. Because the airplanes weren't originally intended 260 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: to take off from an aircraft carrier, there also had 261 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: to be really significant changes in the takeoff procedure. Pilots 262 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: were trained to take off not at the usual ninety 263 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: miles an hour, but it's sixty miles per hour. You 264 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: know a lot about how planes take off. Speed is essential. 265 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: This is tricky. They also had a lot less runway 266 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: than would normally be available aboard each B twenty five 267 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: or five men the pilot, the copilot, a bombardier, a navigator, 268 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: and a gunner. And as a personal side note, the 269 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: practice runs for these takeoffs were performed at an auxiliary 270 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: field to Eggln Field in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, which 271 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: is where my dad was stationed for a really long time, 272 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 1: so I know that area well. The teams flew low 273 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: on their approach. They were about two hundred feet over 274 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: the water, and as they reached the Japanese coastline, they 275 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: dropped very low, some of them coming in just a 276 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: few dozen feet above the ground, and they made their 277 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: way to their intended targets, which were military and industrial 278 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: sites in Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, Nagoya, and Osaka. And as 279 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: they rose into the air to about twelve hundred feet 280 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: over their targets, they dropped their bombs and then they 281 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: headed to air fields on the Chinese mainland to land. 282 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: The wrap up of this mission, which was basically successful, 283 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: didn't go as planned. We're going to talk about exactly 284 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 1: what happened right after we pause for another reef word 285 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: from one of our sponsors. So going back to the 286 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: Doolittle raid. While this raid had the intended effect of 287 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 1: scaring Japan and undermining their confidence, took its toll on 288 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: Doolittle's team. The planes did not make it to the 289 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: emergency airfields that they had been planned to land at 290 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: because of their very early takeoff, they were all running 291 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: out of fuel, and to make matters worse, a nasty 292 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:16,760 Speaker 1: bit of weather was moving in. Doolittle described in his 293 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 1: autobiography actually seeing sharks in the water below as they 294 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: were flying and thinking that that would be an absolutely 295 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: terrible place to bail out, and eventually they got a 296 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: little bit of tail win and they were able to 297 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: get a little bit closer to their intended mark. Every 298 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: one of the B twenty five's used in the raid 299 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: was lost, the soldiers in them had to bail out 300 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: over China. Three crews successfully crashed, landed in China and 301 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 1: made their way to safety, but there were also a 302 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: number of casualties. Before we go on, I want to 303 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 1: have a brief side note on terminology. So my understanding 304 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: about the word soldier is that it is usually used 305 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: for army, whereas Air Force would normally be called airmen. 306 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: And you could make the argument that these guys should 307 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: be considered airmen because they were in the Army Air 308 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: Corps before the Air Force was founded, But just for 309 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,440 Speaker 1: the sake of simplicity, we're sticking with soldiers here. So 310 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 1: if you are an airman, please don't be offended. I'm 311 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: not trying to do any dicey misnomering. But you know, 312 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: we're in that weird phase where it's the Air Force 313 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:22,200 Speaker 1: doesn't exist yet, so that's the scoop. One soldier died 314 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: during the bailout, and while swimming across a lake to 315 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 1: evade Japanese occupation forces, two men drowned. Eight men were captured, 316 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 1: and of those, three of them were executed. Another of 317 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: the remaining five died of starvation while in custody of 318 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: the Japanese. One plane landed in the Soviet Union, where 319 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:44,679 Speaker 1: their bomber was taken and the crew was interned. The 320 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: Soviets eventually moved them to another location near the Iranian 321 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: border and managed to bribe someone to smuggle them across 322 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: the border to the British consulate. According to Soviet documents 323 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,200 Speaker 1: that were later declassified, this entire smuggling operation was actually 324 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: the work of Soviet authorities. They wanted to move the 325 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: United States soldiers out of the Soviet Union, but they 326 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: couldn't violate the neutrality pack they had with Japan in 327 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: order to do it. In fact, the United States military 328 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: had originally tried to work out a deal with the 329 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,160 Speaker 1: Soviet Union to land there after the raid rather than 330 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,040 Speaker 1: in China, but again because of the relationship they had 331 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:21,200 Speaker 1: with the japan the request to do that had been denied. 332 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:25,440 Speaker 1: And as for Doolittle's immediate crew on his plane, after 333 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 1: parachuting into China, they were assisted by American by an 334 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: American missionary, and both Chinese military people and civilians, and 335 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: they were able to get home. There's actually some very 336 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: wacky stories in Doolittle's book about him convincing some of 337 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: the Chinese people he was encountering that yes, he was 338 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: an American soldier and he was who he said he was. 339 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: But Doolittle thought when he got home he was actually 340 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,679 Speaker 1: going to face a court martial for losing all the aircraft. 341 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: He would later write quote, I sat down beside a wing, 342 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: and I looked at the thousands of pieces of shattered 343 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: metal that had once been a beautiful airplane. I felt 344 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: lower than a frog's posterior. This was my first combat mission. 345 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: I had planned it from the beginning and led it. 346 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: I was sure it was my last. As far as 347 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: I was concerned, it was a failure, and I felt 348 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,159 Speaker 1: there could be no future for me in uniform. He 349 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 1: was happy, though about his parachute landing. He had some 350 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: real concerns about his ankles being injured again, because I mean, 351 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: even though a parachute slows your fall down, you still 352 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: land pretty hard. And his ankles had previously been broken. 353 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:35,120 Speaker 1: Fortunately slash, I was gonna say, but unfortunately, but it's 354 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: all fortunate. He wound up landing in manure, which is 355 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: not ideal, but is better than rebreaking his ankles. Yeah, 356 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: he was very thankful to be smelly for a little 357 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 1: while rather than have to be in casts again. So 358 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: the Doolittle raid had two immediate effects. First, it was 359 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:57,640 Speaker 1: a huge morale boost for US troops, civilians at home, 360 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 1: and the Allies. And second, as we mentioned, it really 361 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: sent a shockwave through the Japanese military. The thought in 362 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: Japan up to this point had been that the US 363 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 1: lacked real firepower in the Pacific, since so many vessels 364 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: and planes had been destroyed at Pearl Harbor and so 365 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:17,360 Speaker 1: many other assets were already deployed in Europe. As Doolittle 366 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,000 Speaker 1: wrote in his autobiography quote, the bombs could only do 367 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,959 Speaker 1: a fraction of the damage the Japanese had inflicted on 368 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: US at Pearl Harbor. But the primary purpose of the 369 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 1: raid against the main island of Japan was psychological, and 370 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: immediately the Japanese forces scrambled to fortify their defenses in 371 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: the Pacific. Their carrier fleet in the Indian Ocean was 372 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: called Home to protect the islands of Japan. Aircraft that 373 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:44,120 Speaker 1: had been spread throughout the South Pacific by Japan were 374 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: all recalled to patrols at home to defend against another 375 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: possible attack from US bombers. This shift of Japan's military 376 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,160 Speaker 1: assets back to the Japanese islands, along with United States 377 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: victories at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 378 00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: nineteen forty two and the Battle of Midway in June 379 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:03,199 Speaker 1: of that year, enabled the United States to launch a 380 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:07,359 Speaker 1: campaign against Japan at Guadalcanal in August of nineteen forty two. 381 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: This would have been impossible before the Japanese defensive stand 382 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: in the Pacific had been crippled and immediately after the raid. 383 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 1: Of course, Doolittle was not court martialed as he expected, 384 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: and he was instead promoted. He had been a lieutenant 385 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: colonel when he led the raid, but the very next 386 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: day he was made a brigadier general, skipping over the 387 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: rank of full colonel completely. Doolittle was also awarded the 388 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,159 Speaker 1: Medal of Honor for his efforts, an honor he was 389 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: given a month after the raid. The citation stated the 390 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: reason for his awards simply and clearly, and put into 391 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: perspective just how dangerous the Doolittle Raid had been. It 392 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,119 Speaker 1: read quote with the apparent certainty of being forced to 393 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 1: land in an enemy territory or to perish at sea. 394 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: Colonel Doolittle personally led a squadron of Army bombers manned 395 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: by volunteer crews in a highly destructive raid on the 396 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: Japanese mainland. Doolittle would go on to command the Strategic 397 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,679 Speaker 1: Air Forces, the twelfth Air Force in Britain and the 398 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: fifteenth Air Force in North Africa and Italy. He later 399 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: commanded the Eighth Air Force, which was instrumental in forcing 400 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,199 Speaker 1: Nazi surrender at the end of World War Two, and 401 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,399 Speaker 1: after the war, James Doolittle returned to work at Shell Oyle. 402 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: He was eventually named the president of the Institute of 403 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: Aeronautical Science, and he served on the President's Scientific Advisory Committee. 404 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty three, Doolittle was made the twenty fifth 405 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,879 Speaker 1: recipient of the United States Military Academy's Sylvanas Thayer Award, 406 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 1: given for distinguished military service. Doolittle dine on September twenty 407 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 1: seventh of nineteen ninety three at Pebble Beach, California, at 408 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: the age of ninety six. He had had a stroke 409 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: earlier in September, and he spent his last several weeks 410 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: in his son's home before he passed, and I'm so 411 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,919 Speaker 1: awed by his life and what I really love. One 412 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: of the things that came up when I was researching 413 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,919 Speaker 1: this was that at one point somebody had referred to 414 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,159 Speaker 1: him as the Da Vinci of flight, and he said, 415 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: I think they mean or like I'm the Rube Goldberg. 416 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 1: That's not the direct quote, but it was kind of 417 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: like that, like he was just like, no, I'm just 418 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:10,920 Speaker 1: I'm just busy try and stuff awesome, which I sort 419 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:15,520 Speaker 1: of loved. It was so sort of humble and wonderful 420 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: and witty at the same time. So that is the 421 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:27,119 Speaker 1: story of James Doolittle on The Doolittle Raid. Thanks so 422 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 1: much for joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode 423 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,119 Speaker 1: is out of the archive, if you heard an email 424 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:34,879 Speaker 1: address or a Facebook RL or something similar over the 425 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: course of the show that could be obsolete. Now. Our 426 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:43,720 Speaker 1: current email address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 427 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 1: Our old health stuff works email address no longer works, 428 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: and you can find us all over social media at 429 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: missed in History, and you can subscribe to our show 430 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever 431 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: else you listen to podcasts. 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