April 18, 1942 - The Doolittle Raid begins with 16 Army Air Force B-25 bombers launching earlier than expected from USS Hornet, approx. 650 mi. off Japan, after being spotted by enemy ships. It is the 1st attack by the U.S. of the Japanese mainland since Pearl Harbor. Most of the 16 B-25s, each with a five-man crew, attack the Tokyo area, with a few hitting Nagoya. Embarrassed, the Japanese revise plans & six weeks later attack the American carrier group near Midway sooner than expected. Photo: Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle, USAAF, wires a Japanese medal to a bomb, for "return" to its originators. Photographed on board USS Hornet, shortly before Lt. Col. Doolittle's B-25 bombers were launched to attack Japan .
