Doolittle Raiders B-25 Mitchell at the Lone Star Flight Museum

Lt. Col. "Jimmy" Doolittle flew his B-25 Mitchell bomber off of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) in the first strike against the Japanese home islands.
The Squadron, nicknamed The Doolittle Raiders attacked military and industrial targets in several Japanese cities and their surprise attack on the previously
untouched home islands of Japan is considered by many historians to be a primary cause of the Japanese decisions that let to the Battle of Midway during
which the Japanese lost four aircraft carriers. It was also symbolic as the United States first major strike back.

After the Doolittle Raid the Raiders continued on in the service of their country. Many of them continued flying combat missions over enemy territory
and several were killed during the war on other missions. Three of the Raiders died within a day of the raid as a result of a crash landing and a parachute
failure (or insufficient altitude for it to open) and eight were imprisoned by the Japanese. Three of these men were executed by the Japanese and another
died for lack of proper treatment. Several of the Raiders ended up as prisoners of the Germans, and participated in the real events that were portrayed
in the epic film The Great Escape. Their leader, Jimmy Doolittle, continued his brilliant career in the service of our country as the commander of the
12th Air Force and then the 8th Air Force which contributed a great deal to the Allied victory in Europe.