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  • Turning the Tide in New Guinea

    Attacking at treetop level, Allied aircrews withstood deadly ground fire to strafe Japanese airfields and shipping. Adding to devastation inflicted by their machine guns, the low-flying attackers destroyed Japanese aircraft on the ground with 23-pound fragmentation bombs. At the suggestion of

  • Back to the Philippines

    The Battle of the Coral Sea and the fight at Guadalcanal in 1942 ended the Japanese drive across the Southwest Pacific, but Japanese troops still controlled the northern half of New Guinea. Before Gen. Douglas MacArthur could begin his drive to liberate the Philippines, he had to defeat the enemy

  • Col. Neel E. Kearby: Pacific Thunderbolt Ace

    Col. Neel E. Kearby, a Medal of Honor recipient, developed aggressive tactics that exploited the strengths of the P-47 Thunderbolt. With 22 victories, he became the highest-scoring Thunderbolt pilot in the Pacific Theater. Moreover, Kearby's tactics as commander of the first P-47 unit in the Pacific

  • Balloon Bombs: Japan's Answer to Doolittle

    One of the best kept secrets of the war involved the Japanese balloon bomb offensive. Prompted by the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942, the Japanese developed the balloon bombs as a means of direct reprisal against the U.S. mainland. The balloons, made of paper or rubberized silk, carried

  • Air Force Association Lifetime Achievement Award

    The Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the Air Force Association, recognizes not a single achievement, but a lifetime of work in the advancement of aerospace. In September 2009, the AFA presented this award to the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders.Click here to return to the Doolittle Raid Overview. 

  • A Raider's Toast: The Doolittle Raiders' Goblets

     These 80 silver goblets commemorate the 80 men who flew the Doolittle Raid against Japan in April 1942. Over the years, these goblets have taken a highly symbolic place in the history of military aviation.In December 1946 Gen. James "Jimmy" Doolittle and his fellow Raiders gathered to celebrate his

  • "Sending U.S. Pilot to Hospital"

    Heavily wounded pilots of the Doolittle Raids No. 7 bomber were sent to the Linhai Enze Medical Bureau with sedan chair by villagers of Sarmen County, Zhejiang Province.Painting by Professor Zhang Renyuan, Dean of the Oil Painting Department, China Arts Academy.Click here to return to the Doolittle

  • Raiders Flying Jackets

    On the far right is the A-2 flying jacket with the insignia of the 432nd Bomb Squadron worn by Capt. C. Ross Greening on the Tokyo Raid. He was later shot down and captured by the Germans in July 1943.To the left is an A-2 flying jacket with the insignia of the 34th Bomb Squadron worn by Lt. Thomas

  • Silk Shirts Worn by Raiders

    On the left is a hand-made shirt given to Lt. Charles L. McClure while hiding in China. The inscription reads, "In honorable memory of the first bombing of Japan, Allied hero, presented by the city of Chi-An, China."The donor was the navigator on the B-25 piloted by Lt. Ted A. Lawson, author of the

  • The Eight Who Were Captured

    Following the Tokyo Raid, the crews of two planes remained unaccounted for. On Aug. 15, 1942, it was learned from the Swiss consulate general in Shanghai that the Japanese had eight American flyers at police headquarters in that city. On Oct. 19, 1942, the Japanese broadcast that they had tried two