Season 135 Episode 5027
The Dooittle Raid - Pilot Bill Bower
This show was so interesting, we decided to show it again. The Doolittle Raid was a military action against Japan for their attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) and other military installations of the US and other countries (December 8 1941), in the Pacific. This United States military operation, on the Japanese mainland, proved to the Japanese people that they were vulnerable to attack and not protected by the Kamikaze Winds, the Divine Winds. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and other locations in the Pacific, the United States needed the country’s spirit raised. They were now at war with Imperial Japan. Because of this visious attack, President Roosevelt advocated bombing the Japanese capital, Tokyo, in order to boost the morale of the American people. This raid required B-25s, Mitchell Medium Bombers, to take off from the newly built aircraft carrier, Hornet, and bomb the Japanese mainland. If successful, it would give hope to Americans and the U.S. Allies. Named Task Force 16, this operation, overseen by Lieutenant General James Doolittle, launched on April 18, 1942. In small groups, 16 crews, flew at low altitude, bombing areas of Tokyo, the Tokyo Bay Area, while other crews struck Yokohama, Yokosuka Naval Base, and the cities of Nagoya and Kobe. Deemed a success mission, Japan now understood they were not invinsable. Today’s e360 TV show features Mary Brannaman as she shares the story of her father, Bill Bower, pilot of crew 12 and his experience as a Doolittle Raider.
