Tokyo Raiders

The Doolittle Raiders were a group of 80 U.S. Army Air Forces personnel who carried out a daring air raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities on April 18, 1942, during World War II. Led by Lieutenant Colonel James “Jimmy” Doolittle, the raid was the first U.S. air strike on the Japanese mainland, launched in retaliation for the Pearl Harbor attack.

Sixteen B-25B Mitchell bombers took off from the USS Hornet, a U.S. aircraft carrier, to bomb military and industrial targets in Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, Nagoya, and Osaka. The raid caused limited physical damage but was a significant morale booster for the U.S. and a psychological blow to Japan, proving their homeland was vulnerable.