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Jimmy Doolittle

Brig. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle
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Brig. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle

James Harold Doolittle (December 14, 1896September 27, 1993) was a United States Army general who fought in World War I and World War II, and was the commander of the famous Doolittle Raid.

He was born in Alameda, California and, in 1922, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha. In 1925, he received a doctorate in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the first to receive a doctorate in the field.

During World War I he was not a member of the Lafayette Escadrille as some historians write. A hapless namesake who served briefly in the famous Lafayette Escadrille suffered several mishaps and left the service. Instead, Doolittle stayed in the United States as a flight instructor.

Doolittle was one of the most famous pilots during the inter-war period. He was the first to cross the United States in less than twenty-four hours in 1922 and the first to perform an outside loop in 1927. He also won the three major racing trophies: the Schneider Cup race in a Curtiss R3C in 1925, the Bendix Trophy in a Laird Super Stallion in 1931, and the Thompson Trophy in 1932 in the notorious Gee Bee R-1 .

His most important contribution to aeronautical technology was the development of instrument flying. He was the first pilot to take-off, fly, and land an airplane using instruments alone, without a view outside the cockpit. This accomplishment in 1929 enabled practical all-weather airline operations.

He is most famous for organizing and leading (as a colonel) the so-called Doolittle Raid in 1942 which was a daring carrier-based bombing attack against mainland Japan following the American defeat at the Battle of Pearl Harbor. The bombers didn't have enough fuel to reach safety in China and most were forced to crash land when they ran out of fuel.

Doolittle was awarded the Medal of Honor for accomplishing this mission, which is viewed by historians as a major public-relations victory for the United States. Although the amount of damage done to Japanese war industry was minor and quickly fixed, the raid showed the Japanese their homeland was not invulnerable, and forced them to withdraw several frontline fighter units for homeland defense. More significantly, Japanese commanders considered the raid deeply embarrassing, and their attempt to close the perceived gap in their Pacific defense perimeter led directly to the decisive Battle of Midway. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented the medal to Doolittle.

Doolittle served as a flight instructor.
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Doolittle served as a flight instructor.

Following the raid on Tokyo, Doolittle went on to lead the Twelfth, Fifteenth, and Eighth Air Forces. As commander of the Eighth Air Force, Doolittle was responsible for the strategic bombing campaign that destroyed Germany's ability to wage war.

Doolittle left active duty in 1945, but remained active in business, education, and government service. He died in California and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

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Last updated: 11-08-2004 04:10:31