The Do Villa raid the Tokyo Raid.

The time is 1942 in 1942 America didn't look like was doing so well in World War Two against the Japanese.

It was kind of a touch and go.

And somebody in the military conceived the idea that if we could just bombed Japan, get them right on their home turf, we would scare them and the war could change.

Released the attitude toward the war.

So they brought in Jimmy Doolittle and the Doolittle Raiders.

Little maybe was in his thirties.

The Raiders were in their teens and twenties young pilots.

They loved Jimmy Doolittle, and they believed that they could fly off the deck of an aircraft carrier and fly to Japan and bomb Tokyo and make that statement and then fly towards China and hopefully crash in China.

It's an amazing story.

Many of you watching this probably know the story, but I got the chance to interview the Doolittle Raiders at a critical moment in their lives.

They really wanted to tell this story highly emotional, and when it's over, I'm gonna tell you what happened.

As a result, he was Jimmy Doolittle, boxing champ, Motorcycle racer.

A sort of chill man.

Thrilling stunt flyer.

A veteran of World War.

It happened just about 13 years ago.

The Japanese were attacking.

Disasters were piling up for the allies in the Pacific.

American morale was pretty low.

Then someone had an idea.

In those days before intercontinental bombers, why not bomb Tokyo will be 25 from a carrier.

The mission was approved.

I was sort of romantic.

Reading books of Richard Help swimming the hell respond.

Waiting in the Pull it, Agra, India.

And to me, the raid was Here was a grand adventure and we all knew the name is a speed flyer.

But we're regular.

Regular force troops were particularly impressed with him.

But anyway, Ski said that looked like a big good deal.

Um, it involves action against the enemy capital that has never been bombed.

And that was the first time we've met the old man.

He came in, we were all there and he flew in, and they took all of you know, 30 seconds.

And yours.

Your soul?

Yep.

Yes.

Well, you just You were just hiss from them on.

From that moment on, he said something you're going to get killed And he said, Uh well, the essay question, How many of you are goingto be willing to go?

I thought, not me.

He started in the other end the line, and I was clear down at the end.

They ask every one of them and all.

I'm maybe 25 or so.

They said, I'll go so I didn't want to be the only card I said Out Go.

That's how I got it.

The president's order The bitter taste of war was returned to Japan.

We fashioned a daring scheme to have the Hornet launch a force of bombers and strike a Tokyo from the sea.

All the volunteers for this secret and hazardous job had been specially trained by Colonel Jimmy Doolittle.

Someone's asked Colonel Doolittle what they should do if they're hit over the target and I have to bail out or if they, uh, damaged.

And he said, I know what I would do and somebody said, Well, what is that?

And he said, I'm going to bail my crew out, and I'm going to take this airplane and dive it into the best military target.

I confined your plane let off way, Crewman cheered.

Is one plane after another scream down the way.

I looked at that deck and I said, My God, I can't believe it.

400 feet.

I was used to 1/4 of a mile takeoff be 25 loaded, and I looked at York and I said, How many of these did you do?

And he said, I never did.

One, 80 men and 16 airplanes streaked toward Japan.

Not 450,000 because they had planned, but because they had been discovered 800 miles away flew on the deck towards the west.

Here airborne, off we go, and about an hour and 1/2 later, Corporal Maskey called on the intercom and said, Sir, we don't have enough gas, and I said, That's right.

Click in the story.

Apparently there was no advance warning of the raid way experienced a little hostile action way.

Post targets right on the tree top, pulled up to about 1500 feet on dropped a bomb, 1500 people with the lowest altitude from which we could bomb without danger, damaging our own ship way should like to have remained around to see exactly what had happened.

This was impossible as we were in a hurry as the Raiders left Tokyo with a broad trail of flame and smoke in their wake.

Japan tasted war.

Emperor Hirohito rule.

The Japanese by divine right, guaranteed his people that Japan would never be attacked.

But with a single daring strike, a handful of American has made a mockery of his secret pledge.

Their mission accomplished.

A Tokyo Raiders headed for the China Coast looking for safety, their fuel impossibly low wage.

Just going along a few hours there on the Navigator says, Uh, hey, things were looking good.

What happened?

We picked up a tailwind of 35 40 Knox that lasted for about six hours.

Well, they would have never made it with her.

Yeah, that's right.

So pretty soon he said, G Wiz, we're not going to swim but 100 miles in pretty 7 50 miles.

And hey, we can make lamb.

But I look pal a meter, and I said 3000 foot high and the pilot Pharaoh, Bill Farrell, said, uh, we're out of gas.

We're gonna jump, I said.

are we in pre China or occupied China?

He said, I don't know.

Japan had gained control of much of the Chinese coast.

As the planes flew over the dark, inhospitable terrain they searched for the radio Beacon was supposed to have led them to a safe landing field.

They had completely impregnated the coast.

So it was in the foreigner.

What happened was the airplane flying are landing beacon, which we badly needed the home on.

Yeah.

Uh uh.

Other kill for us and so forth.

Uh, unfortunately, crashed.

All aboard were killed.

And so when we began to plaintively call, turn on the beacon, there was no people went their separate ways.

We just went toe where we just closed toe as we could, where we thought we wanted to go.

As the planes ran out of fuel, each pilot ordered his crew to strap on their parachutes.

For most, it was their first jump.

I was the first to go out.

So you have nothing to compare your descend with.

I just felt like I was going like this.

And here I am, soaking wet about £120 in it than many that time.

And I felt that I wasn't falling and I had an awful time.

I thought maybe they could do something with the cords.

No collapses thing.

Of course, This all happened within a matter of seconds.

And pretty soon Lamma ll you know, I go right in the side of the mountain and I had a baby roost in my jacket here, 12 of them when I got on the ground, I have just the rappers, the candy chucked right out of the jacket.

But I was scared to death.

That was frightening a time.

I mean, there was for me to believe.

Well, we didn't really know where we were because it had been We've been in the soup for several hours, and, uh and they're no lights in China at that time of life.

And we don't know where they're Japs were.

We had a general idea, So we were We were in a strange land at a strange time.

And the and with some strange people, a man appeared in front of us with a weapon, so we assumed he was the Chinese gorilla.

But as we started to go by him, Mac was first.

I was a pilot.

I was a co pilot.

I was second in the other members of the crew behind me.

As we got abreast of him, I was looking at that weapon and he had ready like this and I jumped him on.

Duh.

I guess it was foolish, but it really wasn't because because the weapon was held together with with rice.

Straw was tied up.

And then I opened the breach in There was it wasn't any bulletin.

He had guts, but he didn't have a weapon.

The Chinese quickly learned that these men had mysteriously appeared in their fields.

One night had just bombed the enemy's capital.

In their gratitude, people all over China risked their lives to hide the American fliers and escort them to safety.

The lucky ones were brought together in a mountain cave.

How many boys did you did not return from the mission.

Two people drowned when we landed for were executed by the Japanese.

One jumped on, was killed when he jumped his parachute available.

You know what happened?

So there were seven.

Eight of the Raiders will crash and Japanese held territory were captured.

They were all convicted of murder.

Three were immediately executed by firing squad that angered America.

Americans mark these men well, General Tojo and his murderous crew executioners of the captured American Flyers, This nation will see that they pay for their crimes.

That picture came out on Time magazine.

My mother and and my folks, my brother was there and they were talking about They saw that picture and my mother said, That looks like Jake.

I wonder a bit.

Really?

My brother said, That's him.

And he's mad.

And they take this out in the front and taking our blindfolds off.

I don't think we even had late cups on anymore.

And, Cuff, we were right out there.

I don't know if we did.

Maybe we had makeup after they made that picture on the courthouse steps the next morning.

Then when they moved us that time, they put the blindfold on its leg cuffs and handcuffs and moved us to the next town.

You know, we spent the night at another town that night.

Yeah, and this is where they interrogated some of the Yeah, some of our yeah, where they started getting stolen.

My watch on the lice were crawling all over you in the weeks following the raid do little searched for his missing men, thinking a military operation might liberate them.

He even sent word to the Japanese that he would pay ransom for those still alive.

He wasn't successful.

At first I was lower than a frog's posterior.

I sat on the debris of my airplane.

We hadn't gotten to where we wanted to go.

We knew that events of Pasolini's.

I thought that we had done some damage.

But it seemed to me that it was out of a sorry sorry situation That's very well done for somebody.

A commander.

Thanks.

First of his people.

He, of course.

Thanks.

So what?

Damage was accomplished.

But his first thought is for his people.

I, uh uh, we're pretty worried about what did happen.

A lot of people, they're talking a Boston College airplanes.

It didn't know where all of his crews were.

Hey, says my God, A says I've ruined everything, didn't know what successfully had or the impact get back and probably go to jail.

I don't know what's gonna happen.

He was called by General Arnold, and I was told to be ready to go the White House.

Well, there was silence as they were, Driver was driving them away.

All that first devastating aerial bombardment of Japan Brigadier General James H.

Doolittle receiving from President Roosevelt the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Jim was surprised.

He said, Put General, I don't deserve them That honor.

Well, after he got it from the president in the White House, he then said, Thank you, Mr President.

Spend the rest of my life trying to earn it.

I thought I had, You know, I have a suggestion that the Medal of Honor was not necessarily only for you, but for your whole outfit.

That was my That was my thesis.

I said.

Every one of those camps took exactly the same risk that I did.

I didn't feel that I was entitled to to the Medal of Honor anymore.

They and if I did get the Medal of Honor records for all of us.

Jimmy Doolittle was an amazing man to interview.

He refused to wear it a uniform for my interview because he wasn't in the military.

He refused to say he was a hero.

I said, Are you a hero?

I won't speak to that, he said.

I'm just unordinary citizen who did my duty.

I think he defined the hero as someone who does their duty.

Whatever the risks, nothing stops him.

Nothing gets in their way.

Which is exactly Jimmy do, though.

So as these guys got older, they established a tradition.

They brought a great bottle of whiskey.

They had a silver chalice made for every person.

And as these person died, they would all get together, drink to the individual and in turn over that person's silver chalice and you may have read.

But very recently, the last two guys alive drank the final whiskey, turned over the chalice, and very shortly, I think both of them are now gone.