flashbacks
The compartment where I had to sit and endure for 10 hours.
The six hour flight to Tokyo, Japan was putting images in my head, and I could see my life replay before my eyes. The most recent memory that kept replaying in my head was sort of funny in a way, which is probably why I kept recycling that memory in my head. It was about when Jimmy Doolittle put the two "Peace Medals" on two of our bombs so we could formally return them back. The peace medals were a tactic used by the Japanese to distract us from figuring out their master plan: The Bombing of Pearl Harbor. Besides my memories being transcribed into a movie in my head, I was moving my hand along the belts of bullets to pass the time.
After six hours, my pilot (Lt. Ted W. Lawson) received a radio transmission from Jimmy Doolittle regarding he could see the beaches of Japan and that we should listen to his word when to fire and drop our bombs. Once arriving in Tokyo, Japan, Jimmy Doolittle gladly returned the peace medals and the first military factory was hit. Our aircraft successfully hit an industrial target and we headed our way towards China and hopefully land in a safe area. Unfortunately, the Japanese weren't going to let that happen so quickly because we automatically were handed bullet fire and flak (which is explosive ammunition that produces black smoke so the pilots can't see) so I immediately began to shoot my Browning M2.50 Caliber as fast as I could. Ted Lawson was turning so fast that I couldn't aim correctly but I definitely hit a lot of objects and people.
Thankfully my plane escaped the fears and troubles of Japan and started to head for China which would take another three hours. When we finally saw land, Ted exclaimed, "We only have about a half-gallon left!" Although we weren't worried much about it because we could just land smoothly on the ground without crashing since we were flying over land. But, over in the distance we saw the flags of the Japanese. There were many Japanese camps surrounding the area so if we landed, we would be captured by the Japanese.
This is when we all began to panic. We lost engine one after about a minute and we were losing altitude fast. We soon lost engine two after about thirty seconds, so we all braced ourselves for what was going to happen next.
After six hours, my pilot (Lt. Ted W. Lawson) received a radio transmission from Jimmy Doolittle regarding he could see the beaches of Japan and that we should listen to his word when to fire and drop our bombs. Once arriving in Tokyo, Japan, Jimmy Doolittle gladly returned the peace medals and the first military factory was hit. Our aircraft successfully hit an industrial target and we headed our way towards China and hopefully land in a safe area. Unfortunately, the Japanese weren't going to let that happen so quickly because we automatically were handed bullet fire and flak (which is explosive ammunition that produces black smoke so the pilots can't see) so I immediately began to shoot my Browning M2.50 Caliber as fast as I could. Ted Lawson was turning so fast that I couldn't aim correctly but I definitely hit a lot of objects and people.
Thankfully my plane escaped the fears and troubles of Japan and started to head for China which would take another three hours. When we finally saw land, Ted exclaimed, "We only have about a half-gallon left!" Although we weren't worried much about it because we could just land smoothly on the ground without crashing since we were flying over land. But, over in the distance we saw the flags of the Japanese. There were many Japanese camps surrounding the area so if we landed, we would be captured by the Japanese.
This is when we all began to panic. We lost engine one after about a minute and we were losing altitude fast. We soon lost engine two after about thirty seconds, so we all braced ourselves for what was going to happen next.
contact to china
A B-25 crushed by the impact of crash landing in China.
I could hear the whistling of the plane as it whizzed down from the sky as we were falling to our doom. I quickly said my last prayer and I fell to the floor of the plane and cut my face as the plane came into contact with the ground. All five of us quickly climbed out of the plane and met each other a few yards away from the plane. We began to walk away from the plane as fast as we could so we wouldn't come into contact with any Japanese.
We were walking for a couple of miles and it was pitch black outside. Suddenly we saw some soldiers in the distance. They instantly saw us and we began to panic once again. Then we noticed they were a waving a Chinese flag. Once then we knew we were saved. We met up them and we were sent to a nearby airfield where we once again saw Jimmy Doolittle. That is when I knew that I had survived what we call, "The Doolittle Raid."
We were walking for a couple of miles and it was pitch black outside. Suddenly we saw some soldiers in the distance. They instantly saw us and we began to panic once again. Then we noticed they were a waving a Chinese flag. Once then we knew we were saved. We met up them and we were sent to a nearby airfield where we once again saw Jimmy Doolittle. That is when I knew that I had survived what we call, "The Doolittle Raid."
aftermath
The medal of honor which was awarded to Jimmy Doolittle for his bravery.
When we returned to the soil of the United States I could have never felt better. Jimmy Doolittle was awarded the Medal of Honor which is the highest form of honor anyone could receive. Here is a quote from his ceremony...
"For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty, involving personal valor...at an extreme hazard to life. With the apparent certainty of being forced to land in enemy territory or to perish as sea, Lt. Col. Doolittle personally led a squadron of Army bombers, manned by volunteer crews, in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland"
-Citation, Medal of Honor, presented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
As for me I continued my service in the military by sending planes onto plenty of aircraft carriers. I even met up with the USS Hornet when she left for the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands where she later sunk. Three years later I soon found out that the U.S.A. had won the war and I left to go home where I soon later married my wife.
As for Jimmy Doolittle he returned to his position to Shell Oil and about forty years later when the President was Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Doolittle was promoted to a four star general. Here is another quote from his ceremony...
"Jimmy Doolittle laid the foundation for airpower as we know it today. He is one of our most courageous, adventurous, and brilliant air powers."
-President Ronald Reagan, who assisted in pinning-on ceremonies for General Doolittle's fourth star.
I leave you with a thought. Jimmy Doolittle showed me how to deal with fast acting decisions and goals/failures. What he did is what any great military leader knows...
"He set goals and achieved them. And his failures...he pushed them aside, gained from them, and would go on to another goal."
"For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty, involving personal valor...at an extreme hazard to life. With the apparent certainty of being forced to land in enemy territory or to perish as sea, Lt. Col. Doolittle personally led a squadron of Army bombers, manned by volunteer crews, in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland"
-Citation, Medal of Honor, presented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
As for me I continued my service in the military by sending planes onto plenty of aircraft carriers. I even met up with the USS Hornet when she left for the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands where she later sunk. Three years later I soon found out that the U.S.A. had won the war and I left to go home where I soon later married my wife.
As for Jimmy Doolittle he returned to his position to Shell Oil and about forty years later when the President was Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Doolittle was promoted to a four star general. Here is another quote from his ceremony...
"Jimmy Doolittle laid the foundation for airpower as we know it today. He is one of our most courageous, adventurous, and brilliant air powers."
-President Ronald Reagan, who assisted in pinning-on ceremonies for General Doolittle's fourth star.
I leave you with a thought. Jimmy Doolittle showed me how to deal with fast acting decisions and goals/failures. What he did is what any great military leader knows...
"He set goals and achieved them. And his failures...he pushed them aside, gained from them, and would go on to another goal."