World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseJames Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle of Alameda, California, United States, was an enlisted man in the Army Signal Corps in 1917. Perhaps from the time he had spent in frontier Alaska, Doolittle developed to be a daring and innovative individual from a young age. His interest in aviation, a newly developed technology at the time, drove him to receive flight training and became a commissioned officer (lieutenant) at the conclusion of that training on 11 Mar 1918. He served as a Air Corps instructor during WW1 and earned fame as an aviator while studying at MIT during the inter-war years. Between the great wars, he had also worked in the civilian aeronautical science field and piloted experimental aircrafts with pioneering instruments. During the inter-war years he contributed greatly to the development of instrument-assisted flying; he was the first pilot to operate an aircraft based solely on instrument readings without utilitzing human sight.

ww2dbaseWhen WW2 started, as a lieutenant colonel of the Army Reserves, he oversaw the conversion of peace-time automotive manufacturing plants into war production. Perhaps in his most famous role in WW2 history, he planned and personally led a daring bombing run on Tokyo during the early stages of the Pacific War. The B-25 bomber he was in crash-landed in rice paddies in Zhejiang, China, where he was assisted by Chinese Nationalist troops. He was awarded the Medal of Honor and received a promotion to brigadier general for the successful execution of the plan, which aroused American morale. His Medal of Honor citation was as follows:

ww2dbaseLater as a lieutenant general, he commanded air forces in nearly every theater of the war.

ww2dbaseAfter the war, he returned to the civilian aeronautics industry but continued to work closely with the United States military. In March 1951 he was appointed as a special assistant to the Air Force Chief of Staff and served as consultant in US Air Force ballistic missile and space program research projects. He officially retired from the Air Force on 28 Feb 1959. On 4 Apr 1985, he was promoted by the United States Congress to a four-star general on the Air Force retired list; his stars were pinned on his uniform by President Ronald Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater.

ww2dbaseHe passed away in California in 1993 and now rests in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, United States.

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2.  Alan Chanter says:
17 Apr 2014 08:58:44 AM

Even after his official retirement 'Jimmy' Doolittle continued to work tirelessly as an aviation consultant and served on numerous committees promoting the US Air Force in particular. Until his health began to fail he famously continued to drive daily to his office in Los Angeles from his home in Santa Monica.