Current Events May 19, 1942: JIMMY DOOLITTLE RECEIVES MEDAL OF HONOR:

                       Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1942

Jimmy Doolittle Revealed As

Leader of Raid On Tokyo

Medal Given To Heroic Flier

New Warship7 Aircraft Factory Left

In Flames by Low-Flying U.S. Bombers;

Panicky Jap Radio Gives Pilots First Report

Jimmy Doolittle—now Brig. Gen. James H. Doolittle,

Famous Alameda-born University of California graduate and

speed and test pilot, led the destructive raid on Tokyo one

month ago, it was disclosed today in Washington, D.C.

"Practically every bomb" which American fliers showered

on Japan April 18 appeared to have hit its target, Doolittle

said today, and lie numbered among these such vital ob-.

jectives as the Navy Yard south of Tokyo and an aircraft

factory near Nogoya.

The identity of the leader of the squadron of American

planes that brought fire and destruction to the Japanese cities

has been a fact the Japs have sought to determine ever since.

It was revealed when Doolittle received from President'

Roosevelt in person a Congressional Medal of Honor, the

Associated Press reported.

In a statement released at the White House, Doolittle

described the historic mission. He said that little trouble

was experienced in reaching objectives or from Japanese

planes.

Doolittle asserted that at the Navy Yard south of Tokyo

"one salvo made a direct hit on a new cruiser or battleship

under construction" and "left it in flames."

One bombardier, the general said, "strewed incendiary

bombs along a quarter of a mile of aircraft factory near

Nagoya."

Doolittle said that the squadron of American planes came

in just over the house-tops, and dropped bombs from 1500

feet. The low-level flying, he said, made it difficult to observe

the results of the bombs.----

Citation Discloses Crews Faced Almost

Certain Death or Capture by Japanese

General Marshall read the citation for the medal, which

said:

Brig. Gen. James H. Doolittle, United States Army, 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, General Doolittle

personally led a squadron of Army bombers, manned

by volunteer crews in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese

mainland.