On April 18, 1942, with the Japanese victorious on every front, Lieutenant Colonel James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle of U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), led 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers from the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet on a daring--well-nigh suicidal--bombing raid against Tokyo and other Japanese cities. The pilots knew that they could not deliver enough bombs on their targets to cause anything approaching strategically significant damage. However, in the wake of the Battle of Pearl Harbor and other American and British defeats, Doolittle and his raiders wanted to carry out a mission that would generally raise American and Allied morale, that would depress the morale of the Japanese, and that would force the Japanese to keep a large number of aircraft on patrol over the home islands rather than in combat. Doolittle and his men also knew that, difficult as it was to launch twin-engine medium bombers from the deck of an aircraft carrier, it was impossible to land them there again, and they could not carry sufficient fuel to fly to a friendly base. After the raid, they would have to land in China and hope for the best in their efforts to escape and evade capture and return home.

The origin of the Doolittle raid is obscure. Official early USAAF histories credited President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the idea, but U.S. Fleet Commander Adm. Ernest J. King said that he first heard of it as an off-handed remark from his operations officer, who observed that it was possible to launch twin-engine bombers from an aircraft carrier, a prospect that made an early air attack on Japan feasible, albeit just barely. Enthusiastic about the idea, King conferred with USAAF chief General Henry H. ("Hap") Arnold, who also greeted it with enthusiasm. Arnold chose Doolittle, a great pilot with formal training in aerodynamics, to organize and lead an air group to execute the mission. Doolittle decided on using the B-25B Mitchell medium bomber, which was both modern and combat proven. Quick tests proved that it could indeed be launched from a carrier while hauling a militarily useful bomb load and sufficient fuel to strike Tokyo, then continue to airstrips in China. Once Doolittle had established to his satisfaction the technical feasibility of the mission, he set about recruiting volunteers for a top secret mission he could not at the time explain, other than to warn each prospect that it was highly dangerous. After gathering pilots and crews for 16 planes, Doolittle led a special training program for his men and oversaw necessary modifications to their aircraft. . .

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