20. Jimmy Doolittle’s Feat Shaped the Course of World War II in the Pacific
Jimmy Doolittle’s B-25s could take off from a carrier, but could not land on one. So according to plan, 15 bombers continued westward and made it to China, where they crash-landed. Another made its way to Vladivostok, where it and its crew were interred by the Soviets. Three of eighty crewmen were killed. Eight were captured by the Japanese, of whom three were executed, and one died in captivity. The raid’s physical damage was slight, but the psychological impact was huge. The daring feat boosted American morale by demonstrating the country’s ability to hit back, and Doolittle received a well-deserved Medal of Honor.
Simultaneously, the Japanese high command lost considerable face. They worked off their frustration with a collective punishment campaign against the part of China where the B-25s had crash-landed and the crews had been helped by the locals. In an orgy of rapine and murder known as Operation Sei-Go, the Japanese killed an estimated quarter-million Chinese. They also sought to regain face with an attempt to capture Midway Island a few weeks later. It backfired spectacularly and ended in a catastrophic Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway, which turned the tide of war in the Pacific.
