Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor

by Scott, James M.

  216 “After flying for about 30 minutes”: “Interview with B-25 Crew That Bombed Tokyo and Was Interned by the Russians,” transcript, June 3, 1943.

  216 “Open your bomb bay doors”: Emmens, Guests of the Kremlin, p. 11.

  216 “Though I walk”: Jeff Wilkinson, “Crew Became ‘Guests of the Kremlin,” State, April 11, 2002, p. 1.

  217 “Bombs away!”: Emmens, Guests of the Kremlin, p. 11.

  217 “Keep your eyes peeled”: Ibid., p. 12.

  217 “I’ll bet we’re the first B-25 crew”: Ibid.

  217 First Lieutenant Harold Watson piloted: Unless otherwise noted, details of Watson’s attack on Japan are drawn from the following sources: Harold F. Watson, Mission Report of Doolittle Project on April 18, 1942, May 14, 1942; James M. Parker Jr., Personal Report, May 14, 1942; Thomas C. Griffin, May 15, 1942; Eldred V. Scott, Personal Report, May 15, 1942; Wayne M. Bissell, Personal Report, May 14, 1942; Interview with Lt. J. M. Parker, Co-pilot of Airplane No. 40-2303 Piloted by Lt. H. F. Watson, in Summary of Targets in Japanese Raid and Memoranda of Personal Interviews with Major J. F. Pinkney; Memorandum of Interview with Sergeant Scott (Gunner), Member of Airplane Crew in No. 40-2303 Piloted by Lt. Watson, ibid.; Marshall, “Tokyo Raid,” pp. 50–51; Shibata and Hara, Dōrittoru Kūshū Hiroku, pp. 90–96, 211.

  218 “A nice, sunshiny”: Peters, “Japan Bombed with 20-Cent Sight,” p. 1.

  218 “I expected to see holes”: Ibid.

  218 “majestic deliberation”: Marshall, “Tokyo Raid,” p. 51.

  218 “I dropped two demolition”: Wayne M. Bissell, Personal Report, May 14, 1942.

  219 “Tracers were looping up”: Eldred V. Scott, “A Bridge between Free Peoples,” in Glines, Doolittle’s Tokyo Raiders, p. 221.

  219 First Lieutenant Richard Joyce piloted: Unless otherwise noted, details of Joyce’s attack on Japan are drawn from the following sources: Richard O. Joyce, Mission Report of Doolittle Project on April 18, 1942, May 5, 1942; Richard O. Joyce, Report of Tokyo Raid, undated (ca. May 1942); Horace E. Crouch, May 5, 1942; Marshall, “Tokyo Raid,” pp. 52–53; Shibata and Hara, Dōrittoru Kūshū Hiroku, pp. 97–99, 211.

  219 “When we were a short way”: Horace Crouch undated questionnaire, Box 1, Series II, DTRAP.

  219 “The targets were so thick”: J. Reilly O’Sullivan and Preston Grover, “‘Thanks for the Ride,’ and Raider Bails Out,” Spokane Daily Chronicle, April 24, 1943, p. 2.

  220 “I remember looking down”: Crouch oral history interview with Hasdorff, April 19, 1989.

  221 “I turned south”: Richard O. Joyce, Report of Tokyo Raid, undated (ca. May 1942).

  221 “It seemed that”: George Larkin diary, April 18.

  221 Captain Ross Greening: Unless otherwise noted, details of Greening’s attack on Japan are drawn from the following sources: Charles R. Greening, Mission Report on Doolittle Project, April 18, 1942, May 2, 1942; Interview with Major Greening–Airplane No. 40-2249–Pilot, undated (ca. 1942), in Summary of Targets in Japanese Raid and Memoranda of Personal Interviews with Major J. F. Pinkney; Greening, Not As Briefed, pp. 27–33; Marshall, “Tokyo Raid,” pp. 54–55; Shibata and Hara, Dōrittoru Kūshū Hiroku, pp. 99–103, 211.

  221 “Let’s be nonchalant”: Greening, Not As Briefed, p. 29.

  221 “I don’t think I’d ever flown”: Ibid.

  221 “Two of these were shot down”: Interview with Major Greening–Airplane No. 40-2249–Pilot, undated (ca. 1942).

  221 “We hugged the ground”: Peters, “Japan Bombed with 20-Cent Sight,” p. 1.

  221 “I flew so low”: Greening, Not As Briefed, p. 31.

  222 “I could see a concentration”: Ibid., pp. 31–32.

  222 “Oh, if my wife”: Peters, “Japan Bombed with 20-Cent Sight,” p. 1.

  222 “There were great sheets”: Ibid.

  222 “When we turned”: Kenneth Reddy diary, April 18, 1942.

  223 First Lieutenant Bill Bower: Unless otherwise noted, details of Bower’s attack on Japan are drawn from the following sources: William J. Bower, Mission report of Doolittle Project on April 18, 1942, May 2, 1942; Report of Interview with Lt. Bowers and Lt. Pound–Airplane No. 40-2278, undated (ca. 1942), in Summary of Targets in Japanese Raid and Memoranda of Personal Interviews with Major J. F. Pinkney; Report of Interview with Sergeant W. J. Bither, Bombardier in Plane No. 40-2278, Commanded by Lt. Bower, Aug. 23, 1942, Ibid.; Marshall, “Tokyo Raid,” pp. 55–56; Shibata and Hara, Dōrittoru Kūshū Hiroku, pp. 103–6, 211.

  223 “I became a busy boy”: William Bower diary, April 18, 1942, Box 1, Series II, DTRAP.

  223 “Why on earth”: Bower oral history interview with Edwards, Oct. 27, 1971.

  223 “Ahead was the bay”: William Bower diary, April 18, 1942.

  223 “About that time”: Ibid.

  223 “Bombs away”: Ibid.

  223 The total time: A post-raid report stated that the distance between the four targets was about a half-mile. In all likelihood, it was closer to a quarter-mile.

  223 “I was watching”: Pound, “We Bombed ‘The Land of the Dwarfs,’” p. 242.

  224 “Our bombs”: Blanton, “We Bombed Japan,” p. 10.

  224 “Because we were not allowed”: Pound, “We Bombed ‘The Land of the Dwarfs,’” p. 243.

  224 First Lieutenant Edgar McElroy: Unless otherwise noted, details of McElroy’s attack on Japan are drawn from the following sources: Edgar E. McElroy, Mission Report of Doolittle Project on April 18, 1942; Edgar E. McElroy, Personal Report, May 4, 1942; Richard A. Knobloch, Personal Report, May 5, 1942; Robert C. Bourgeois, Personal Report, May 5, 1942; Clayton J. Campbell, Report of Navigator on #40-2247–Yokosuka Naval St., May 5, 1942; Marshall, “Tokyo Raid,” pp. 56–57; Shibata and Hara, Dōrittoru Kūshū Hiroku, pp. 107–8, 211.

  224 “Mac, I think we’re going”: McElroy, “When We Were One,” p. 30.

  225 “It was a thrilling sensation”: Robert Bourgeois, “Road Back from Tokyo,” Barksdale Bark, Christmas Edition, 1943, p. 5.

  225 “I had looked at the pictures”: Robert Bourgeois to Ross Greening, Individual Histories questionnaire, undated (ca. 1950).

  225 “There were furious”: McElroy, “When We Were One,” p. 30.

  225 “Get ready!”: Ibid.

  225 “A blind man”: Wing, “Five Who Bombed Tokio Surprised They’re Heroes,” p. 1.

  225 “Bombs away!”: McElroy, “When We Were One,” p. 30.

  225 “We got an aircraft carrier!”: Ibid.

  225 “The large crane”: Edgar E. McElroy, Personal Report, May 4, 1942.

  226 “I looked out the window”: Frank Gibney, ed., Sensō: The Japanese Remember the Pacific War, trans. Beth Cary (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1995), p. 203.

  226 “The enemy”: Ibid.

  226 Major Jack Hilger: Unless otherwise noted, details of Hilger’s attack on Japan are drawn from the following sources: John A. Hilger, Report on Doolittle Project, May 5, 1942; John A. Hilger, Report of Airplane No. 40-2297, undated (ca. May 1942); Jack O. Sims, Personal Report, May 5, 1942; James H. Macia Jr., Personal Report, May 5, 1942; J. Eierman, Personal Report, undated (ca. May 1942); Edwin V. Bain, Personal Report, May 5, 1942; Interview with Lieutenant J. H. Macia, Navigator and Bombardier of Airplane No. 40-2297 Which Attacked Nagoya on April 18, 1942, undated (ca. 1942), in Summary of Targets in Japanese Raid and Memoranda of Personal Interviews with Major J. F. Pinkney; Interview with Lt. Sims–Airplane No. 40-2297 Which Attacked Nagoya April 18, 1942, undated (ca. 1942), ibid.; Marshall, “Tokyo Raid,” pp. 57–58; Shibata and Hara, Dōrittoru Kūshū Hiroku, pp. 108–16, 211; Sims, First over Japan, pp. 29–30.

  226 “Where are those fighters?”: Cindy Hayostek, “Exploits of a Doolittle Raider,” Military History, March 1996, p. 61.

  226 “It was a beautiful spring day”: John Hilger diary, April 18, 1942, in John Hilger, “On the Raid,” Life, May 3, 1943, p. 92.

  226 “We climbed over”: Macia oral history interview with Hasdorff, Ju
ly 15–16, 1987.

  227 “Look, they’ve got a ball game”: Eierman, “I Helped Bomb Japan,” p. 67.

  227 “While over Japan”: John A. Hilger, Report of Airplane No. 40-2297, undated (ca. May 1942).

  227 “Major Hilger, sir”: Eierman, “I Helped Bomb Japan,” p. 67.

  227 “Some of the stuff”: Ibid.

  227 “No”: This exchange comes from Jack Hilger, undated questionnaire, Box 3, Series II, DTRAP.

  228 “I saw some ten to fifteen fires”: Edwin V. Bain, Personal Report, May 5, 1942.

  228 “A tremendous building”: John Hilger diary, April 18, 1942, in Hilger, “On the Raid,” p. 92.

  228 “All I had to do”: James “Herb” Macia oral history with Floyd Cox, July 21, 2000, National Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, Tex.

  228 “Our fourth and last target”: John Hilger diary, April 18, 1942, in Hilger, “On the Raid,” p. 92.

  228 “That was a beautiful hit”: Eierman, “I Helped Bomb Japan,” p. 67.

  228 “As we passed over”: Ibid.

  228 “I fired a burst”: Edwin V. Bain, Personal Report, May 5, 1942.

  228 “His left fist”: Eierman, “I Helped Bomb Japan,” p. 68.

  229 “Boy”: Jack Hilger, undated questionnaire, Box 3, Series II, DTRAP.

  229 First Lieutenant Donald Smith: Unless otherwise noted, details of Smith’s attack on Japan are drawn from the following sources: Donald G. Smith, Mission Report of Doolittle Project on April 18, 1942, May 14, 1942; Donald G. Smith, Personal Report, May 14, 1942; Griffith P. Williams, Personal Report, undated (ca. May 1942); Howard A. Sessler, Personal Report, May 14, 1942; Edward J. Saylor, Personal Report, May 15, 1942; Gene Casey, “Conversation over Kobe,” p. 23; Memorandum of Interview with Lt. D. G. Smith, Pilot of Airplane No. 40-2267, and Lt. T. R. White, Medical Officer on the Same Ship, Which Attacked Kobe April 18, 1942, undated (ca. 1942), in Summary of Targets in Japanese Raid and Memoranda of Personal Interviews with Major J. F. Pinkney; Notes Taken during an Interview with the Flyers Who Bombed Kobe April 18, 1942, June 17, 1942, ibid.; Marshall, “Tokyo Raid,” pp. 57–58; Shibata and Hara, Dōrittoru Kūshū Hiroku, pp. 116–21, 211.

  229 “This took place”: Donald G. Smith, Personal Report, May 14, 1942.

  229 “Oh-oh!”: Casey, “Conversation over Kobe,” p. 23.

  229 “We ought to be seeing”: Ibid.

  229 “Here’s a good chance”: This exchange is ibid.

  229 “The only person we bothered”: Thomas White diary, April 18, 1942, in Thomas Robert White, “The Hornet Stings Japan,” Atlantic Monthly, June 1943, p. 41.

  229 “We had our first opposition”: Thomas White, “Memoirs of ‘Doc’ White,” p. 10.

  230 “Say, Saylor, start pushing”: Casey, “Conversation over Kobe,”, p. 23.

  230 “Very pretty and interesting”: Thomas White diary, April 18, 1942, in White, “The Hornet Stings Japan,” p. 42.

  230 “Trains, streetcars and busses”: Thomas White, “Memoirs of ‘Doc’ White,” p. 10.

  230 The airmen spotted: William W. Kelly, “Sense and Sensibility at the Ballpark: What Fans Make of Professional Baseball in Modern Japan,” in William W. Kelly, ed., Fanning the Flames: Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004), p. 80.

  230 “Everything looked very much”: Donald G. Smith, Personal Report, May 14, 1942.

  231 “There’s the steel foundries”: This exchange comes from Casey, “Conversation over Kobe,” p. 23.

  231 “Bomb bay doors open”: Ibid.

  231 “Hey, when you going”: Ibid.

  232 “Nobody realized”: Peters, “Japan Bombed with 20-Cent Sight,” p. 1.

  232 “It was like the old sleeper play”: “Don Smith Relates Story of Raid on Japan for Home Folk,” Daily Belle Fourche Post, July 3, 1942, p. 1.

  232 Second Lieutenant Billy Farrow: Unless otherwise noted, details of Farrow’s attack on Japan are drawn from the following sources: George Barr, Robert Hite, and Jacob DeShazer testimonies in the case of United States of America vs. Shigeru Sawada et al.; Robert “Bobby” L. Hite, “Doolittle Raider and Japanese POW,” in Hoppes, comp., Just Doing My Job, pp. 43–45; DeShazer oral history interview with Hasdorff, Oct. 10, 1989; Hite oral history interview with Hasdorff, Dec. 16–17, 1982; Shibata and Hara, Dōrittoru Kūshū Hiroku, pp. 122–25, 211.

  232 “We came in over”: Jim Arpy, “You Are to Bomb the Japanese Homeland,” Sunday Times-Democrat, April 12, 1964, p. 1D–2D.

  232 “Get set to drop bombs”: Watson, DeShazer, p. 30.

  232 “See that gasoline tank?”: DeShazer oral history interview with Hasdorff, Oct. 10, 1989.

  232 “To the left of us”: Watson, DeShazer, p. 31.

  233 “Let your bombs go”: DeShazer oral history interview with Hasdorff, Oct. 10, 1989.

  233 “We didn’t miss”: Robert L. Hite and Jacob DeShazer, “Doolittle Fliers’ Saga of Living Death: Men Pretty Low As They Face Japs in Courtroom,” News and Courier, Sept. 22, 1945, p. 5.

  CHAPTER 13

  234 “Saturday’s experience”: “First Enemy Air Raid,” Nichi Nichi, in “Today’s Press Comments,” Japan Times & Advertiser, April 19, 1942, p. 2.

  234 Three minutes after: Task Force Sixteen war diary, April 18, 1942; Hornet and Enterprise deck logs, April 18, 1942.

  234 Sailors hustled to ready: Rose, The Ship That Held the Line, p. 72.

  234 The Nitto Maru’s contact report: The Reminiscences of Captain Stephen Jurika, Jr., vol. 1, pp. 479–80.

  234 Doctors and corpsmen: Jerry L. Strickland oral history with Jan K. Herman, Nov. 9, 2001, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Falls Church, Va.

  235 “It will have to come off”: This exchange comes from Harp Jr., “God Stood beside Us,” pp. 19–20.

  235 The Enterprise turned: Enterprise and Hornet deck logs, April 18, 1942; Enterprise, Hornet, and Task Force Sixteen war diaries, April 18, 1942.

  236 At 11:50 a.m.: Report of U.S. Aircraft Action with Enemy by Ensign R. K. Campbell, A-V(N), USNR, included with M. F. Leslie to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, Report of Action, April 18, 1942, Box 386, RG 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, World War II Action and Operational Reports, NARA.

  236 “The enemy maneuvered”: M. F. Leslie to Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Enterprise, Reports of Action, April 19, 1942, ibid.

  236 Lieutenant Ralph Arndt: Report of U.S. Aircraft Action with Enemy by Lieutenant R. W. Arndt, U.S. Navy, included with M. F. Leslie to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, Report of Action, April 18, 1942; M. F. Leslie to Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Enterprise, Reports of Action, April 19, 1942.

  236 Ensign John Butler: Report of U.S. Aircraft Action with Enemy by Ensign J. C. Butler, A-V(N), USNR, included with M. F. Leslie to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, Report of Action, April 18, 1942; M. F. Leslie to Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Enterprise, Reports of Action, April 19, 1942.

  236 Radar at one point: Task Force Sixteen war diary, April 18, 1942.

  236 Lookouts on the Enterprise: Ibid.; Enterprise deck log, April 18, 1942; R. J. Hoyle, “U.S. Aircraft—Action with Enemy,” April 18, 1942, Box 436, RG 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, World War II Action and Operational Reports, NARA.

  236 The Nashville charged: Nashville war diary, April 18, 1942; F. S. Craven to Chester Nimitz, “Report of Sinking of Two Enemy Patrol Boats on 18 April, 1942,” April 21, 1942, Box 1264, RG 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, World War II Action and Operational Reports, NARA; W. Kirten Jr., “Report by Gunnery Officer on Firing at Japanese Patrol Boats on 18 April, 1942,” April 19, 1942, ibid.

  236 “Her whole starboard side”: W. Kirten Jr., “Report by Gunnery Officer on Firing at Japanese Patrol Boats on 18 April, 1942,” April 19, 1942.

  237 “One was wounded”: F. S. Craven to Chester Nimitz, “Report of Sinking of Two Enemy Patrol Boats on 18 April, 1942,” April 21
, 1942.

  237 “Two of our beautiful”: This exchange comes from J. Bryan III, “Four-Star Sea Dog,” Saturday Evening Post, Jan. 1, 1944, p. 52; Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, p. 103.

  237 One of the Enterprises’s bombers: Enterprise war diary, April 18, 1942.

  237 The task force: Robert J. Cressman, The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2000), pp. 88–89; War History Office, National Institute for Defense Studies, Hondo Hōmen Kaigun Sakusen [Naval Operations in Home Waters], Senshi Sōsho [War History Series], vol. 85 (Tokyo: Asagumo Shinbunsha, 1975), pp. 82–85.

  237 “She had a grand day”: Robin Merton Lindsey oral history interview with the Navy, Sept. 17, 1943.

  238 At Mitscher’s request: The Reminiscences of Captain Stephen Jurika, Jr., vol. 1, pp. 477–78.

  238 Others scanned: Griffin, A Ship to Remember, pp. 68–69; “Pilots Who Were on Hornet Tell How Raid Upset Tokyo,” Milwaukee Journal, April 24, 1943, p. 2.

  238 “All the ship’s radios”: Harp Jr., “God Stood beside Us,” pp. 20–21.

  238 “Boy, oh boy”: Ibid., p. 21.

  238 “There was nothing”: The Reminiscences of Captain Stephen Jurika, Jr., vol. 1, p. 478.

  238 “We began to worry”: Harp Jr., “God Stood beside Us,” p. 21.

  238 “Lady Haw Haw”: Griffin, A Ship to Remember, pp. 64, 69; “Lady Haw-Haw,” Time, Jan. 19, 1942, p. 32.

  238 “A moment before”: Harp Jr., “God Stood beside Us,” p. 21.

  238 “Enemy bombers appeared”: Hornet deck log, April 18, 1942.

  239 “A large fleet”: Ibid.

  239 “They made it”: Bryan III, “Four-Star Sea Dog,” p. 52.

  239 “It doesn’t take much”: E. B. Mott oral history interview with the Navy, March 22, 1944.

  239 One bulletin claimed: Robert Casey diary, April 18, 1942, in Casey, Torpedo Junction, p. 427.

  239 “Even if she had”: Robert Casey diary, April 19, 1942, ibid., p. 429.

  239 “The woman’s had a shock”: Ibid., pp. 307–8.

  239 “Give your blood”: Ibid., p. 429.

  239 “An interesting moment”: Ibid., p. 430.