Shangri-La

On this date seventy years ago – 18 April 1942 – 80 men led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in sixteen North American B-25 Mitchell bombers to turn the violence of war back upon the Empire of Japan.

Of the 80 men who departed Hornet on what became known as the Doolittle Raid, 69 returned (five are still among us). Their audacity, their professionalism, their unmatched courage inspire to this day.

The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to

DOOLITTLE, JAMES H.
(Air Mission)

Rank and organization: Brig. Gen'l, U.S. Army Air Corps.
Place and date: Over Japan.
Entered service at: Berkeley, Calif.
Birth: Alameda, Calif.
G.O. No.: 29, 9 June 1942.

Citation:
For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty, involving personal valor and intrepidity at an extreme hazard to life. With the apparent certainty of being forced to land in enemy territory or to perish at sea, Gen. Doolittle personally led a squadron of Army bombers, manned by volunteer crews, in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland.

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