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Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
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==Plot== Not long after the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor attack]], [[United States Army Air Forces]] Lieutenant Colonel [[Jimmy Doolittle|James Doolittle]] orders 24 [[North American B-25 Mitchell]] [[medium bomber]]s—with volunteer crews—to report to [[Eglin Air Force Base|Eglin Field]], [[Florida]], for a secret three-month-long mission. They arrive on March 1. Among them is the craft piloted by Ted Lawson. His crew consists of Lt. Dean Davenport, co-pilot; Lt. Charles McClure, navigator, Lt. Bob Clever, bombardier, and Corporal [[David J. Thatcher|David Thatcher]], gunner-mechanic. Doolittle warns them: This work is top-secret. He offers them the chance to opt out, particularly if they have wives and families. Lawson's wife, Ellen, drives to Eglin Field to join him. She is pregnant. They are very much in love, but giving up never occurs to them. The intensive training includes learning how to take off on a runway only 500 feet long as taught by an instructor [[Naval Aviator]] from nearby [[NAS Pensacola|Pensacola Naval Air Station]].<ref>The short takeoff space was necessary because the bombers were too big to be stored belowdecks. As shown in the film, they were lashed to the.carrier. [http://www.doolittleraider.com The Official Website of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders]</ref> They are not told why, and those who guess keep quiet. Lawson's plane acquires the nickname "Ruptured Duck" and [[nose art]] to match. One dark morning, Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle sends them off to fly cross-country at hedge-hopping height to [[Naval Air Station Alameda]], [[California]]. The planes are immediately loaded aboard the aircraft carrier {{USS|Hornet|CV-8|6}}. At last, Doolittle reveals the mission: Bomb [[Tokyo]], [[Yokohama]], [[Osaka]], [[Kobe]] and [[Nagoya]]. The carrier will get them within 400 miles of mainland Japan. After dropping their payloads, they will continue to designated landing spots in parts of [[China]] controlled by [[Nationalist government|Nationalist]] forces and regroup in [[Chongqing|Chungking]]. The call to [[General quarters|battle stations]] comes twice daily, at dawn and dusk, when the enemy "[[Submarine|pig boats]]" (submarines) come up. When an enemy surface vessel does discover the convoy, the crews assemble to take off immediately—12 hours earlier than planned. It will be daylight over Japan and night when they reach China. Doolittle leads the raid, dropping [[Incendiary device|incendiary bombs]] to mark key targets. The Ruptured Duck is the seventh flight. Flying low over the ocean and into Tokyo, through the smoke of burning targets, dropping their bombs as planned. Flak bursts around them, but fighters ignore them. The Ruptured Duck continues on until running low on fuel approaching the Chinese coast. Lawson crashes in the surf while trying to land on a beach in darkness and heavy rain. With the exception of Thatcher, the entire crew is badly injured in the crash. Lawson's left leg is laid open to the bone, and McClure's shoulders are broken. Friendly Chinese soldiers help them, and the Americans face hardships and danger while being escorted through Japanese-held territory. In the absence of any medical supplies, the injured men endure terrible pain, and Lawson's leg becomes infected. Delirious, he dreams of Ellen. There is a [[Red Cross Society of China|Red Cross]] banner in the village of XingMing. Doctor Chung arrives with good news and bad. He will take them to his father's hospital, some 19 miles farther. The bad news is that the Japanese have captured an American crew. Hurrying into the hills, they look back: XingMing is burning. There is no surgeon at the elder Dr. Chung's hospital, but Lt. Smith's crew is on its way with Lt. "Doc" White, who volunteered as gunner. The Japanese approach, and the able-bodied Americans leave, except for Doc. He amputates Lawson's leg well above the knee, using the single dose of [[Spinal anaesthesia|spinal anesthesia]] in their possession. It wears off too soon. Lawson passes out and dreams of Ellen. A chorus of [[Scouting and Guiding in mainland China|Scouts]] singing "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]", in [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]], celebrate Lawson's first day out of bed. When the elder Dr. Chung gives Lawson an heirloom bracelet for his wife, Lawson is puzzled. He does not remember talking about her. When he totters on his crutches, he becomes distraught at the idea of Ellen seeing him without a leg. They hurry to [[Changzhou|Ch'ang Chou]] to rendezvous with an American plane that takes them home. General Doolittle visits Lawson in the hospital and tells him he has work for him to do. Lawson doesn't want to see Ellen until he obtains a prosthetic leg and learns to walk properly. Ellen arrives unannounced. Lawson forgets his missing leg and stands; he falls and Ellen rushes to him and the two embrace on the floor, overjoyed to see each other.
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