Doolittle did a lot

63 years ago today a bunch of big airplanes loaded with bombs took off from an American aircraft carrier, flew over Tokyo and managed to drop a few of those bombs before crash-landing in China. The Doolittle Raid, as it has come to be known, was credited with lifting morale in this country after Pearl Harbor, and has been immortalized by Hollywood in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo starring Spencer Tracy as James Doolittle. Most commentaries, like this one, stop there. A brave, spirited poke in the eye to the Empire of Japan, but militarily not much more. That couldn't be more wrong. At the very moment of the American bombing attack, the Japanese were debating whether or not to invade and take control of the little island of Midway. (So named because it was midway between Pearl Harbor and Tokyo.) It was held by the U.S., but had just a tiny airstrip and not much more. Would it even be worth the trouble? It would be easy to take, but then again, the Americans just might decide to take a do or die stand, in which case they could destroy our fleet like they had intended to do at Pearl Harbor. They just couldn't make up their mind. So, after the Japanese Military had promised the emperor that no bomb would ever land on Japanese soil, you can imagine their embarrassment when Doolittle flew over. Let's just say that it was an easy decision for them after that. They had to take Midway. Two months later the Battle of Midway took place. I'll write about that in June. But, during 5 minutes of this battle, the entire war in the pacific turned around, and the Japanese fleet was on the defensive. It was truly a miracle.