Editing Jimmy Doolittle

{{Short description|United States Air Force general and Medal of Honor recipient}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = James Doolittle
| image         = Lt. General James Doolittle, head and shoulders.jpg
| caption       = General James Harold Doolittle
| alt           = Head and shoulders portrait of General James Doolittle
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1896|12|14}}
| birth_place   = [[Alameda, California]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1993|09|27|1896|12|14}}
| death_place   = [[Pebble Beach, California]], U.S.
| placeofburial = [[Arlington National Cemetery]] ([[Arlington County, Virginia]], U.S.)
| allegiance    = United States
| branch        = [[United States Army]] (1917–1918)<br/>[[United States Army Air Corps]] (1918–1941)<br/>[[United States Army Air Force]] (1941–1947)<br/>[[United States Air Force]] (1947–1959)
| serviceyears  = 1917–1959
| rank          = [[General (United States)|General (Honorary)]]
| unit          = 
| commands      = [[Eighth Air Force]]<br/>[[Fifteenth Air Force]]<br/>[[Twelfth Air Force]]
| battles       = [[World War I]]<br/>[[Mexican Border Service]]<br/>[[World War II]]
* [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific Theater]]
* [[Doolittle Raid]]
* [[Mediterranean Theater of Operations|Mediterranean Theater]]
* [[European Theatre of World War II|European Theater]]
* [[Pearl Harbor]]
| awards        = [[Medal of Honor]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Army Distinguished Service Medal]] (2)<br/>[[Silver Star]]<br/>[[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] (3)<br/>[[Bronze Star Medal]]<br/>[[Air Medal]] (4)<br/>[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]<br>[[The Explorers Club#Honors|The Explorers Club Medal]]
| spouse        = {{marriage|Josephine Daniels|December 24, 1917|December 24, 1988|end=died}}
| children      = 2
| laterwork     = [[Air race]] pilot, [[test pilot]], [[Shell Oil Company]] VP and director, chairman of [[Space Technology Laboratories]] and [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics|NACA]]
}}

'''James Harold Doolittle''' (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American military [[General (United States)|general]] and aviation pioneer who received the [[Medal of Honor]] for his raid on Japan during [[World War II]], known as the [[Doolittle Raid]] in his honor.<ref name=afhrastudy91pdf134>{{cite web |url=https://www.afhra.af.mil/Portals/16/documents/Studies/51-100/AFD-090601-134.pdf |title=Biographical Data on Air Force General Officers, 1917–1952, Vol. 1 – A thru L |year=1953 |last=Fogerty |first=Robert P. |pages=476–480 |publisher=[[Air Force Historical Research Agency]] |id= USAF historical studies: no. 91 |access-date=November 9, 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831192543/https://www.afhra.af.mil/Portals/16/documents/Studies/51-100/AFD-090601-134.pdf |archive-date=August 31, 2021}}</ref>  He made early coast-to-coast flights and record-breaking speed flights, won many flying races, and helped develop and flight-test [[Instrument flight rules|instrument flying]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/107225/general-james-harold-doolittle/|title=General James Harold Doolittle > U.S. Air Force > Biography Display|website=www.af.mil|access-date=6 July 2019}}</ref> According to the US FAA, he was the first pilot ever to perform a successful instrument flight.<ref> https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/about/history/pioneers/First_Instrument_Flight_Doolittle.pdf </ref>

Doolittle grew up in [[Nome, Alaska]]. He attended the [[University of California, Berkeley]], where he graduated with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in 1922. That year, he made the first cross-country flight in an [[Airco DH.4]], and in 1925, was awarded a [[Doctor of Philosophy|doctorate]] in [[aeronautics]] from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], the first such doctorate degree issued in the United States.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-28-mn-39876-story.html|title=Gen. Jimmy Doolittle Dies; War Hero, Aviation Pioneer : Flight: The celebrated ace, who grew up on the L.A. streets, was 96. He led daring 1942 Tokyo bombing raid.|date=28 September 1993|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=6 July 2019|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> In 1927, he performed the first [[outside loop]], thought at the time to be a fatal [[aerobatic maneuver]], and two years later, in 1929, pioneered the use of "blind flying", where a pilot relies on [[flight instruments]] alone, which later won him the [[Harmon Trophy]] and made all-weather [[airline]] operations practical.

Doolittle was a flying instructor during [[World War I]] and a reserve officer in the [[United States Army Air Corps]], but was recalled to active duty during World War II. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for personal valor and leadership as commander of the [[Doolittle Raid]], a bold long-range retaliatory air raid on some of the Japanese main islands on April 18, 1942, four months after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. The raid used 16 [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25B Mitchell]] medium bombers with reduced armament to decrease weight and increase range, each with a crew of five and no [[escort fighter]] aircraft. It was a major morale booster for the United States and Doolittle was celebrated as a hero, making him one of the most important national figures of the war.

Doolittle was promoted to [[lieutenant general]] and commanded the [[Twelfth Air Force]] over North Africa, the [[Fifteenth Air Force]] over the Mediterranean, and the [[Eighth Air Force]] over Europe. He retired from the Air Force in 1959 but remained active in many technical fields. Doolittle was inducted into the [[National Aviation Hall of Fame]] in 1967, eight years after retirement and only five years after the Hall was founded. He was eventually promoted to [[Four-star rank|general]] in 1985, presented to him by President [[Ronald Reagan]] 43 years after the Doolittle Raid.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-06-14-mn-2532-story.html|title=Jimmy Doolittle Given Fourth Star by Reagan|publisher=Associated Press|date=June 14, 1985|via=LA Times}}</ref> In 2003, he topped ''[[Air & Space/Smithsonian]]'' magazine's list of the greatest pilots of all time, and ten years later, ''[[Flying (magazine)|Flying]]'' magazine ranked Doolittle sixth on its list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.<ref name=AirSpaceMag/><ref name=FlyingMag/>  He died in 1993 at the age of 96, and was buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].

==Early life and education==
Doolittle was born December 14, 1896, in [[Alameda, California]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-12-18 |title=Alameda: City recognizes World War II aviator Jimmy Doolittle |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/12/18/alameda-city-recognizes-world-war-ii-aviator-jimmy-doolittle-2/ |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=The Mercury News |language=en-US}}</ref> He spent his youth in [[Nome, Alaska]], where he earned a reputation as a boxer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sewardpeninsula.com/s/General-James-Jimmy.pdf|title=General James Jimmy}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> His parents were Frank Henry Doolittle and Rosa (Rose) Cerenah Doolittle ({{nee|Shephard}}). By 1910, Jimmy Doolittle was attending school in [[Los Angeles]]. When his school attended the [[1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field]], Doolittle saw his first airplane.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Berliner|first=Don|title=The Big Race of 1910|journal=[[Air & Space]]|volume=24|issue=6|page=37|date=December 2009 – January 2010|url=http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/The-Big-Race-of-1910.html}}</ref>

He attended [[Los Angeles City College]] after graduating from [[Manual Arts High School]], together with later film director [[Frank Capra]], in [[Los Angeles]]. He entered the [[University of California, Berkeley]], where he studied at the [[Hearst Memorial Mining Building|College of Mines]]. He was a member of [[Theta Kappa Nu]] fraternity, which later merged into [[Lambda Chi Alpha]] during the later stages of the [[Great Depression]].

==Military career==
[[File:Curtiss Racer NASA GPN-2000-001310.jpg|thumb|left|Doolittle on his [[Curtiss R3C-2]] Racer, the plane in which he won the [[Schneider Trophy]] in 1925]]
Doolittle took a leave of absence in October 1917 to enlist in the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Signal Corps Reserve]] as a flying cadet; he received ground training at the School of Military Aeronautics (an Army school) on the campus of the [[University of California]], and flight-trained at [[Rockwell Field]], California. Doolittle received his [[U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Ratings|Reserve Military Aviator rating]] and was commissioned a [[second lieutenant]] in the Signal Officers Reserve Corps of the U.S. Army on March 11, 1918.

During [[World War I]], Doolittle stayed in the United States as a flight instructor and performed his war service at Camp John Dick Aviation Concentration Center ("Camp Dick"), [[Texas]]; [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base|Wright Field, Ohio]]; Gerstner Field, [[Louisiana]]; Rockwell Field, California; [[Kelly Air Force Base|Kelly Field, Texas]], and [[Eagle Pass, Texas]].

Doolittle served at Rockwell as a flight leader and gunnery instructor. At Kelly Field, he served with the [[104th Aero Squadron]] and with the [[90th Fighter Squadron|90th Aero Squadron]] of the [[3d Operations Group|1st Surveillance Group]]. His detachment of the 90th Aero Squadron was based at [[Eagle Pass, Texas|Eagle Pass]], patrolling the Mexican border. Recommended by three officers for retention in the [[United States Army Air Service|Air Service]] during demobilization at the end of the war, Doolittle qualified by examination and received a Regular Army commission as a 1st Lieutenant, Air Service, on July 1, 1920.

On May 10, 1921, he was engineering officer and pilot for an expedition recovering a plane that had force-landed in a Mexican canyon on February 10 during a transcontinental flight attempt by [[Alexander Pearson Jr.]] Doolittle reached the plane on May 3 and found it serviceable, then returned May 8 with a replacement motor and four mechanics. The oil pressure of the new motor was inadequate, and Doolittle requested two pressure gauges, using [[carrier pigeon]]s to communicate. The additional parts were dropped by air and installed, and Doolittle flew the plane to [[Del Rio, Texas]], himself, taking off from a {{convert|400|yd|adj=on}} airstrip hacked out of the canyon floor.

Subsequently, he attended the Air Service Mechanical School at Kelly Field and the Aeronautical Engineering Course at [[McCook Field, Ohio]]. Having at last returned to complete his college degree, he earned a [[Bachelor of Arts]] from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1922, and joined the [[Lambda Chi Alpha]] fraternity.

Doolittle was one of the most famous pilots during the inter-war period. On September 4, 1922, he made the first of many pioneering flights, flying a [[de Havilland]] [[DH-4]]—which was equipped with early navigational instruments—in the first cross-country flight, from Pablo Beach (now [[Jacksonville Beach, Florida|Jacksonville Beach]]), [[Florida]], to Rockwell Field, [[San Diego]], California, in 21 hours and 19 minutes, making only one refueling stop at Kelly Field. The U.S. Army awarded him the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]].
[[File:JimmyDoolittle.jpeg|thumb|Doolittle in a pre-World War II photo]]

Within days after the transcontinental flight, he was at the Air Service Engineering School (a precursor to the [[Air Force Institute of Technology]]) at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio. For Doolittle, the school assignment had special significance: "I had applied for the Engineering School because I thought there should be a better rapport between the aeronautical engineer and the pilot. It seemed to me that the engineers felt pilots were all a little crazy or else they wouldn't be pilots. The pilots felt the engineers as a group were, if not incompetent, at least not thoroughly acquainted with the pilot's viewpoint—that all the engineers did was zip slide rules back and forth and come out with erroneous results and bad aircraft. I thought from a philosophical point of view that it would be good to have engineers and pilots understand one another better. It seemed desirable to marry these two capabilities in one person—and I wanted to be that person."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Doolittle |first1=James H. |first2=Carroll V. |last2=Glines |year=1991 |title=I Could Never Be So Lucky Again: An Autobiography |publisher=[[Random House Publishing Group]] |edition=Kindle |page=73}}</ref>

In July 1923, after serving as a [[test pilot]] and aeronautical engineer at McCook Field, Doolittle entered the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. In March 1924, he conducted aircraft acceleration tests at McCook Field, which became the basis of his master's thesis and led to his second Distinguished Flying Cross. He received his [[Master of Science|SM]] degree in Aeronautics from MIT in June 1924. Because the Army had given him two years to get his degree and he had done it in just one, he immediately started working on his [[Doctor of Science|Sc.D.]] in Aeronautics, which he received in June 1925. His doctorate in aeronautical engineering was the first issued in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |last=Quigley |first=Samantha L. |title=Detroit Defied Reality to Help Win World War II |url=https://www.uso.org/stories/112-detroit-defied-reality-to-help-win-world-war-ii |website=[[United Service Organizations]] |access-date=8 January 2016}}</ref> He said that he considered his master's work more significant than his doctorate.<ref>Doolittle (1991), p. 90.</ref>

Following graduation, Doolittle attended special training in high-speed seaplanes at [[Naval Support Facility Anacostia|Naval Air Station Anacostia]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] He also served with the Naval Test Board at [[Mitchel Field]], [[Long Island]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and was a familiar figure in air speed record attempts in the New York area. He won the [[Schneider Trophy|Schneider Cup]] race in a [[Curtiss R3C]] in 1925 with an average speed of {{convert|232|mph}}.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The 1925 Schneider Trophy Race |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1925/1925%20-%200703.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208162507/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1925/1925%20-%200703.html |archive-date=8 December 2008 |format=PDF |journal=[[Flight International|Flight]] |date=October 29, 1925 |page=703}}</ref> For that feat, Doolittle was awarded the [[Mackay Trophy]] in 1926.

In April 1926, Doolittle was given a leave of absence to go to [[South America]] to perform demonstration flights for Curtiss Aircraft. In [[Chile]], he broke both ankles while demonstrating his acrobatic abilities in an incident that was known as Night of the Pisco Sours.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=An American Hero |url=https://www.airforcemag.com/article/1193doolittle/ |access-date=20 April 2021 |magazine=Air Force Magazine}}</ref> Despite having both ankles in casts, Doolittle put his Curtiss [[Curtiss P-1 Hawk|P-1 Hawk]] through aerial maneuvers that outdid the competition. He returned to the United States and was confined to [[Walter Reed Army Medical Center|Walter Reed Army Hospital]] for his injuries until April 1927. He was then assigned to McCook Field for experimental work, with additional duty as an instructor pilot to the 385th Bomb Squadron of the Air Corps Reserve. During this time, in 1927 he was the first to perform an [[outside loop]], previously thought to be a fatal maneuver. Carried out in a Curtiss fighter at Wright Field in Ohio, Doolittle executed the dive from {{convert|10,000|ft}}, reached {{convert|280|mph}}, bottomed out upside down, then climbed and completed the loop.

===Instrument flight===
[[File:JamesDoolittle-bust.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Bust of General Doolittle at the [[Imperial War Museum Duxford|Imperial War Museum, Duxford]]]]
{{For|another instrument flying pioneer|William C. Ocker}}

Doolittle's most important contribution to aeronautical technology was his early advancement of [[Instrument flight rules|instrument flying]]. He was the first to recognize that true operational freedom in the air could not be achieved until pilots developed the ability to control and navigate aircraft in flight from takeoff run to landing rollout, regardless of the range of vision from the cockpit. Doolittle was the first to envision that a pilot could be trained to use instruments to fly through fog, clouds, precipitation of all forms, darkness, or any other impediment to visibility, and in spite of the pilot's own possibly convoluted motion sense inputs. Even at this early stage, the ability to control aircraft was getting beyond the motion sense capability of the pilot. That is, as aircraft became faster and more maneuverable, pilots could become seriously disoriented without visual cues from outside the cockpit, because aircraft could move in ways that pilots' senses could not accurately decipher.

Doolittle was also the first to recognize these psycho-physiological limitations of the human senses (particularly the motion sense inputs, i.e., up, down, left, right). He initiated the study of the relationships between the psychological effects of visual cues and motion senses. His research resulted in programs that trained pilots to read and understand navigational instruments. A pilot learned to "trust his instruments," not his senses, as visual cues and his motion sense inputs (what he sensed and "felt") could be incorrect or unreliable.

In 1929, he became the first pilot to take off, fly and land an airplane using [[Flight instruments|instruments]] alone, without a view outside the cockpit.<ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=Preston |editor-first=Edmund |title=FAA Historical Chronology: Civil Aviation and the Federal Government, 1926–1996 |url=https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/37596/dot_37596_DS1.pdf |access-date=5 October 2020 |website=Repository and Open Science Access Portal; National Transportation Library; United States Department of Transportation |publisher=[[United States Federal Aviation Administration]] |quote=Sep 24, 1929: At Mitchel Field, N.Y., Army Lt. James H. Doolittle became the first pilot to use only instrument guidance to take off, fly a set course, and land. Doolittle received directional guidance from a radio range course aligned with the airport runway, while radio marker beacons indicated his distance from the runway. [...] He flew in a hooded cockpit, but was accompanied by a check pilot who could have intervened in an emergency. |page=[https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/37596/dot_37596_DS1.pdf#page=9 9]}}</ref> Having returned to Mitchell Field that September, he helped develop blind-flying equipment. He helped develop, and was then the first to test, the now universally used [[Attitude indicator|artificial horizon]] and [[Heading indicator|directional]] [[gyroscope]]. He attracted wide newspaper attention with this feat of "blind" flying and later received the [[Harmon Trophy]] for conducting the experiments. These accomplishments made all-weather airline operations practical.

===Reserve status===
[[File:Eddie August Schneider (1911-1940) and Donald Ryan Mockler in the Times Union of Brooklyn, New York on 29 May 1932.jpg|thumb|1932, flying for the [[Hoover League]]]]
In January 1930, Doolittle advised the Army on the construction of [[Floyd Bennett Field]] in New York City. Doolittle resigned his regular commission on February 15, 1930, and was commissioned a Major in the Air Reserve Corps a month later, being named manager of the Aviation Department of [[Shell Oil Company]], in which capacity he conducted numerous aviation tests.<ref>{{cite book |title=A History in the Making: 80 Turbulent Years in the American General Aviation Industry |first=Donald M. |last=Pattillo |page=16}}</ref> While in the Reserve, he also returned to temporary active duty with the Army frequently to conduct tests.

Doolittle helped influence Shell Oil Company to produce the first quantities of [[Octane rating|100 octane]] aviation gasoline. High octane fuel was crucial to the high-performance planes that were developed in the late 1930s.

In 1931, Doolittle won the first [[Bendix Trophy]] race from [[Burbank, California]], to [[Cleveland]], in a [[Laird Super Solution]] biplane.

In 1932, Doolittle set the world's high-speed record for land planes at {{convert|296|mph}} in the Shell Speed Dash. Later, he took the [[Thompson Trophy]] race at Cleveland in the notorious [[Gee Bee R-1]] racer with a speed averaging {{convert|252|mph}}. After having won the three big air racing trophies of the time, the Schneider, Bendix, and Thompson, he officially retired from air racing, stating, "I have yet to hear anyone engaged in this work dying of old age."

In April 1934, Doolittle was selected to be a member of the Baker Board. Chaired by former [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Newton D. Baker]], the board was convened during the [[Air Mail scandal]] to study Air Corps organization. In 1940, he became president of the Institute of Aeronautical Science.

The development of 100-octane aviation gasoline on an economic scale was due in part to Doolittle, who had become aviation manager of Shell Oil Company. Around 1935 he convinced Shell to invest in refining capacity to produce 100-octane fuel on a scale that nobody needed since no aircraft existed that required a fuel that nobody made. Some fellow employees would call his effort "Doolittle's million-dollar blunder" but time would prove him correct. Before this the Army had considered 100-octane tests using pure octane but at $25 a gallon it did not happen. By 1936 tests at Wright Field using a cheaper alternative to pure octane proved the value of the fuel and both Shell and Standard Oil of New Jersey would win the contract to supply test quantities for the Army. By 1938 the price was down to 17.5 cents a gallon, only 2.5 cents more than 87 octane fuel. By the end of WW II, the price would be down to 16 cents a gallon and the U.S. armed forces would be consuming 20 million gallons a day.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://media.defense.gov/2017/Nov/21/2001847256/-1/-1/0/DP_0017_BISHOP_JIMMY_DOOLITTLE.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329211722/https://media.defense.gov/2017/Nov/21/2001847256/-1/-1/0/DP_0017_BISHOP_JIMMY_DOOLITTLE.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 29, 2020 |title=''Defense'' Jimmy Doolittle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lo9TAAAAMAAJ&q=Development+of+Aircraft+Engines:+Two+Studies+of+Relations+Between+Government+...&pg=PA15 |title=Development of Aircraft Engines: Two Studies of Relations Between Government and Business |first=Robert |last=Schlaifer |author-link=Robert Schlaifer |date=April 10, 1950 |publisher=Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Doolittle returned to active duty in the [[United States Army Air Corps|U.S. Army Air Corps]] on July 1, 1940, with the rank of Major. He was assigned as the assistant district supervisor of the Central Air Corps Procurement District at [[Indianapolis]] and [[Detroit]], where he worked with large auto manufacturers on the conversion of their plants to aircraft production.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur L. Herman |title=Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II |year=2012 |pages=114, 219–222, 239, 279 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4000-6964-4}}</ref> The following August, he went to England as a member of a special mission and brought back information about other countries' air forces and military build-ups.

==Doolittle Raid==
[[File:060217-F-1234P-017 Doolittle Raid Crew 1.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Doolittle and his crew just before takeoff for the [[Doolittle Raid|mission]]. From left to right: Lt. Henry A. Potter, navigator; Doolittle, pilot; SSgt. Fred A. Braemer, bombardier; Lt. [[Richard E. Cole]], copilot; SSgt. Paul J. Leonard, flight engineer/gunner. On {{USS|Hornet|CV-8}}, 18 April 1942.]]
[[File:Doolittle LtCol g41191.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Doolittle on the flight deck of {{USS|Hornet|CV-8}}]]
[[File:17 14 182 doolittle.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Exhibit at [[National Museum of the United States Air Force|USAF Museum]] depicting a [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25B Mitchell]] in preparation for the [[Doolittle Raid]].]]
{{Main|Doolittle Raid}}

Following the reorganization of the Army Air Corps into the [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] in [[1941 in aviation#June|June 1941]], Doolittle was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] on January 2, 1942, and assigned to Army Air Forces Headquarters to plan the first retaliatory air raid on the Japanese homeland following the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. He volunteered for and received [[Henry H. Arnold|General H.H. Arnold's]] approval to lead the top-secret attack of 16 [[B-25 Mitchell|B-25]] medium bombers from the aircraft carrier {{USS|Hornet|CV-8|6}}, with targets in [[Tokyo]], [[Kobe]], [[Yokohama]], [[Osaka]] and [[Nagoya]].

After training at [[Eglin AFB|Eglin Field]] and [[Wagner Field]] in northwest Florida, Doolittle, his aircraft, and volunteer flight crews proceeded to [[McClellan AFB|McClellan Field]], California for aircraft modifications at the Sacramento Air Depot, followed by a short final flight to [[Naval Air Station Alameda]], California for embarkation aboard the aircraft carrier [[USS Hornet (CV-8)|USS ''Hornet'']]. On April 18, Doolittle and his 16 B-25 crews took off from ''Hornet'', reached Japan, and bombed their targets. Fifteen of the planes then headed for their recovery airfield in China, while one crew chose to land in Russia due to their bomber's unusually high fuel consumption. As did most of the other crewmen who participated in the one-way mission, Doolittle and his crew bailed out safely over China when their B-25 ran out of fuel. By then, they had been flying for about 12 hours, it was nighttime, the weather was stormy, and Doolittle was unable to locate their landing field. Doolittle came down in a rice paddy (saving a previously injured ankle from breaking) near [[Quzhou]]. He and his crew linked up after the bailout and were helped through Japanese lines by Chinese guerrillas and American missionary [[John Birch (missionary)|John Birch]]. Other aircrews were not so fortunate, although most eventually reached safety with the help of friendly Chinese. Seven crew members lost their lives, four as a result of being [[Japanese war crimes#Execution and killing of captured Allied airmen|captured and murdered by the Japanese]] and three due to an aircraft crash or while parachuting. Doolittle thought he would be [[court martial]]ed due to having to launch the raid ahead of schedule after being spotted by a Japanese patrol boat and the loss of all the aircraft.

==Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign==

{{main|Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign}}
After the raid, the Japanese Imperial Army began the [[Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign]] (also known as Operation Sei-go) to prevent these eastern coastal provinces of China from being used again for an attack on Japan and to take revenge on the Chinese people. An area of some {{convert|20000|sqmi|km2|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} was laid waste. "Like a swarm of locusts, they left behind nothing but destruction and chaos," eyewitness Father Wendelin Dunker wrote.{{sfn|Scott|2015}} The Japanese killed an estimated 10,000 Chinese civilians during their search for Doolittle's men.{{sfn|Yamamoto|2000|p=166}} People who aided the airmen were tortured before they were killed. Father Dunker wrote of the destruction of the town of Ihwang: "They shot any man, woman, child, cow, hog, or just about anything that moved, They raped any woman from the ages of 10–65, and before burning the town they thoroughly looted it&nbsp;... None of the humans shot were buried either&nbsp;..."{{sfn|Scott|2015}} The Japanese entered [[Nancheng County|Nancheng]] ([[Jiangxi]]), population 50,000 on June 11, "beginning a reign of terror so horrendous that missionaries would later dub it 'the Rape of Nancheng.' " evoking memories of the infamous [[Nanjing Massacre|Rape of Nanjing]] five years before. Less than a month later, the Japanese forces put what remained of the city to the torch. "This planned burning was carried on for three days," one Chinese newspaper reported, "and the city of Nancheng became charred earth."{{sfn|Scott|2015}}

When Japanese troops moved out of the Zhejiang and Jiangxi areas in mid-August, they left behind a trail of devastation. Chinese estimates put the civilian death toll at 250,000. The Imperial Japanese Army had also spread [[cholera]], [[typhoid]], [[Plague (disease)|plague]] infected fleas and [[dysentery]] pathogens. The Japanese biological warfare [[Unit 731]] brought almost {{convert|300|lb}} of [[paratyphoid]] and [[anthrax]] to be left in contaminated food and contaminated wells with the withdrawal of the army from areas around Yushan, Kinhwa and Futsin. Around 1,700 Japanese troops died out of a total 10,000 Japanese soldiers who fell ill with disease when their biological weapons attack rebounded on their own forces.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=lILltXBTo8oC&dq=10%2C000+summer+1942+biological+weapons+chekiang&pg=PA19 Chevrier & Chomiczewski & Garrigue 2004], p. 19.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzlNgS70OHAC&dq=10%2C000+summer+1942+biological+weapons&pg=PA171 Croddy & Wirtz 2005], p. 171.</ref>

Doolittle went on to fly more combat missions as commander of the 12th Air Force in North Africa, for which he was awarded four Air Medals. He later commanded the 12th, 15th and 8th Air Forces in Europe.<ref name="army.mil">{{Cite web |url=https://www.army.mil/article/36934/from_shangri_la_to_tokyo_the_doolittle_raid_april_18_1942 |title=From Shangri-La to Tokyo: The Doolittle Raid, April 18, 1942 |website=www.army.mil|date=April 6, 2010 }}</ref> The other surviving members of the Doolittle raid also went on to new assignments.

Doolittle received the [[Medal of Honor]] from President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] at the [[White House]] for planning and leading his raid on Japan. His citation reads: "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, Lt. Col. Doolittle personally led a squadron of Army bombers, manned by volunteer crews, in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland." He was also promoted to brigadier general.<ref name="army.mil"/>

The [[Doolittle Raid]] is viewed by historians as a major morale-building victory for the United States. Although the damage done to Japanese war industry was minor, the raid showed the Japanese that their homeland was vulnerable to air attack,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47875466 |title=Last of WW2 'Doolittle Raiders' Dick Cole dies aged 103 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=April 9, 2019}}</ref> and forced them to withdraw several front-line fighter units from Pacific war zones for homeland defense. More significantly, Japanese commanders considered the raid deeply embarrassing, and their attempt to close the perceived gap in their Pacific defense perimeter led directly to the decisive American victory at the [[Battle of Midway]] in June 1942.

When asked from where the Tokyo raid was launched, President Roosevelt coyly said its base was [[Shangri-La]], a fictional paradise from the popular novel and film ''[[Lost Horizon]]''. In the same vein, the U.S. Navy named one of its [[Essex-class aircraft carrier|''Essex''-class]] [[fleet carrier]]s {{USS|Shangri-La}}.<ref name="army.mil"/>

==World War II, post-raid==
[[File:Doolittle1.jpg|thumb|left|Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle (left) with Maj. Gen. [[Curtis LeMay]] (right), standing between tail booms of a [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning]] in Britain, 1944]]

In July 1942, as a [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]]—he had been promoted by two grades on the day after the [[Tokyo]] attack, bypassing the rank of full [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]]—Doolittle was assigned to the nascent [[Eighth Air Force]]. This followed his rejection by General [[Douglas MacArthur]] as commander of the [[South West Pacific Area (command)|South West Pacific Area]] to replace Major General [[George Brett (general)|George Brett]]. Major General [[Frank Maxwell Andrews|Frank Andrews]] first turned down the position and offered a choice between [[George Kenney]] and Doolittle, MacArthur chose Kenney.{{sfn|Wolk|2003|pp=21–22}} In September, Doolittle became commanding general of the [[Twelfth Air Force]], soon to be operating in North Africa. He was promoted to [[Major general (United States)|major general]] in November 1942, and in March 1943 became commanding general of the [[Northwest African Strategic Air Force]], a unified command of U.S. Army Air Force and Royal Air Force units. In September, he commanded a raid against the Italian town of [[Battipaglia]] that was so thorough in its destruction that General [[Carl Andrew Spaatz]] sent him a joking message: "You're slipping Jimmy. There's one crabapple tree and one stable still standing."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Second World War|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7538-2824-3|author=Antony Beevor|page=503|publisher=Orion Publishing Group, Limited |author-link=Antony Beevor}}</ref>

Maj. Gen. Doolittle took command of the [[Fifteenth Air Force]] in the [[Mediterranean Theater of Operations]] in November 1943. On June 10, he flew as co-pilot with Jack Sims, fellow Tokyo Raider, in a [[B-26 Marauder]] of the [[320th Air Expeditionary Wing|320th Bombardment Group]], 442nd Bombardment Squadron on a mission to attack gun emplacements at [[Pantelleria]]. Doolittle continued to fly, despite the risk of capture, while being privy to the [[Ultra (cryptography)|Ultra]] secret, which was that the German encryption systems had been broken by the British.<ref>{{cite web|title=Enigmatic Man|url=http://www.ghspaulding.com/enigmatic_man.htm|author=G.H. Spaulding, CAPT, USN (Ret)|access-date=November 20, 2010|archive-date=October 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019184714/http://www.ghspaulding.com/enigmatic_man.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> From January 1944 to September 1945, he held his largest command, the [[Eighth Air Force]] (8 AF) in England as a [[Lieutenant general (United States)|lieutenant general]], his promotion date being March 13, 1944, and the highest rank ever held by an active reserve officer in modern times.

===Escort fighter tactics===
Doolittle's major influence on the European air war occurred late in 1943—and primarily after he took command of the Eighth Air Force on January 6, 1944<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.8thafhs.org/combat1944a.htm |title=WWII 8thAAF Combat Chronology –January 1944 Through June 1944 |date=July 28, 2012 |access-date=November 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728100504/http://www.8thafhs.org/combat1944a.htm |archive-date=July 28, 2012 |quote=Thursday, 6 January 1944 – Strategic Operations  (Eighth Air Force): Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle assumes command, replacing Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker who will go to Italy as Commanding General Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF). }}</ref>—when he changed the policy of requiring escorting fighters to remain with their bombers at all times. Instead, he permitted [[escort fighters]] to fly far ahead of the bombers' [[combat box]] formations, allowing them to freely engage the German fighters lying in wait for the bombers. Throughout most of 1944, this tactic negated the effectiveness of the twin-engined ''Zerstörergeschwader'' heavy fighter wings and single-engined ''Sturmgruppen'' of heavily armed [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190|Fw 190As]] by clearing the [[Luftwaffe]]'s [[bomber destroyer]]s from ahead of the bomber formations. After the bombers had hit their targets, the American fighters were free to strafe German airfields, transportation, and other "targets of opportunity" on their return flight to base. These tasks were initially performed with [[Lockheed P-38|Lockheed P-38 Lightnings]] and [[Republic P-47|Republic P-47 Thunderbolts]] through the end of 1943. They were progressively replaced with the long-ranged [[North American P-51 Mustang]]s as the spring of 1944 wore on.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.combatsim.com/printer.php?action=review&id=570&page=1|title=Effect of the North American P-51 Mustang On the Air War in Europe|website=www.combatsim.com|access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/james-h-doolittle|title=James H. Doolittle|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->s|website=history.com|date=August 21, 2018 |access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref>

==Postwar==
===Doolittle Board===
[[File:JimmyDoolittleAutographed.jpg|thumb|right|Personalized photo of then-Major General Jimmy Doolittle]]
Secretary of War [[Robert P. Patterson]] asked Doolittle on March 27, 1946, to head a commission on the relationships between officers and enlisted men in the Army called the "Doolittle Board" or the "GI Gripes Board". The Army implemented many of the board's recommendations in the postwar volunteer Army,<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Jerold E.|title=Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Army|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2001|page=154}}</ref> though many professional officers and noncommissioned officers thought that the Board "destroyed the discipline of the Army".<ref>{{cite book|last=Zellers|first=Larry|title=In Enemy Hands: A Prisoner in North Korea|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|date=1999|page=105}}</ref> Columnist [[Hanson Baldwin]] said that the Doolittle Board "caused severe damage to service effectiveness by recommendations intended to 'democratize' the Army—a concept that is self-contradictory".<ref>{{cite book|last=Bogle|first=Lori L.|title=The Pentagon's Battle for the American Mind: The Early Cold War|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|date=2004|page=51}}</ref>

===U.S. space program===
Doolittle became acquainted with the field of [[space science]] in its infancy. He wrote in his autobiography, "I became interested in [[rocket]] development in the 1930s when I met [[Robert H. Goddard]], who laid the foundation [in the US]. ... While with Shell [Oil] I worked with him on the development of a type of [rocket] fuel. ... "<ref name="Doolittle">{{cite book |last1=Doolittle|first1=James H.|last2=Glines|first2=Carroll V.|title=I Could Never Be So Lucky Again: An Autobiography|date=1991|publisher=Bantam Books|isbn=978-0553078077|page=515}}</ref> [[Harry Guggenheim]], whose foundation sponsored Goddard's work, and [[Charles Lindbergh]], who encouraged Goddard's efforts, arranged for (then Major) Doolittle to discuss with Goddard a special blend of gasoline. Doolittle piloted himself to Roswell, New Mexico in October 1938 and was given a tour of Goddard's workshop and a "short course" in rocketry and space travel. He then wrote a memo, including a rather detailed description of Goddard's rocket. In closing he said, "interplanetary transportation is probably a dream of the very distant future, but with the moon only a quarter of a million miles away—who knows!"<ref name="Papers">{{cite book|last1=Goddard|first1=Esther and G. Edward Pendray|title=The Papers of Robert H. Goddard, 3 vols.|date=1970|publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Co.|location=New York|pages=1208–1216}}</ref> In July 1941 he wrote Goddard that he was still interested in rocket propulsion research. The Army, however, was interested only in [[JATO]] at this point. Doolittle was concerned about the state of rocketry in the US and remained in touch with Goddard.<ref name="Papers"/>{{rp|1443}}

Shortly after World War II, Doolittle spoke to an [[American Rocket Society]] conference at which a large number interested in rocketry attended. The topic was Robert Goddard's work. He later stated that at that time "... we [the aeronautics field in the US] had not given much credence to the tremendous potential of rocketry.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/space/i-was-there-the-tremendous-potential-of-rocketry-18946468/?page=1|last1=Putnam|first1=William D.|first2=Eugene M.|last2=Emme |author-link2=Eugene M. Emme |title=I Was There: 'The Tremendous Potential of Rocketry' |newspaper=Smithsonian Magazine|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|date=September 2012|access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref>

In 1956, Doolittle was appointed chairman of the [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics]] (NACA) because the previous chairman, [[Jerome C. Hunsaker]], thought Doolittle to be more sympathetic to the rocket, which was increasing in importance as a scientific tool as well as a weapon.<ref name="Doolittle"/>{{rp|516}} The NACA Special Committee on Space Technology was organized in January 1958 and chaired by [[Guy Stever]] to determine the requirements of a national space program and what additions were needed to NACA technology. Doolittle, Dr. [[Hugh Dryden]] and Stever selected committee members including Dr. [[Wernher von Braun]] from the [[Army Ballistic Missile Agency]], Sam Hoffman of [[Rocketdyne]], Abe Hyatt of the [[Office of Naval Research]] and Colonel Norman Appold from the USAF missile program, considering their potential contributions to US space programs and ability to educate NACA people in space science.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bilstein|first1=Roger E.|title=Stages to Saturn|date=1980|publisher=University Press of Florida|location=Gainesville|page=34}}</ref>

===Reserve status===
On 5 January 1946, Doolittle reverted to inactive reserve status in the Army Air Forces in the grade of lieutenant general, a rarity in those days when reserve officers were usually limited to the rank of major general or rear admiral, a restriction that would not end in the US armed forces until the 21st century. He retired from the United States Army on 10 May 1946. On 18 September 1947, his reserve commission as a general officer was transferred to the newly established [[United States Air Force]]. Doolittle returned to Shell Oil as a vice president, and later as a director.

In the summer of 1946, Doolittle went to [[Stockholm]] where he consulted about the "[[ghost rockets]]" that had been observed over [[Scandinavia]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Operation Trojan Horse |year=1996 |isbn=978-0962653469 |page=122 |first=John |last=Keel |publisher=IllumiNet Press |url=http://galaksija.com/literatura/jk_oth.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420102608/http://galaksija.com/literatura/jk_oth.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2013 |author-link=John Keel}}</ref>

In 1947, Doolittle became the first president of the [[Air Force Association]], an organization which he helped create.

In 1948, Doolittle advocated the desegregation of the US military. He wrote, "I am convinced that the solution to the situation is to forget that they are colored." Industry was in the process of integrating, Doolittle said, "and it is going to be forced on the military. You are merely postponing the inevitable and you might as well take it gracefully."<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1998/July%201998/0798color.aspx |title=When the Color Line Ended |first=Herman S. |last=Wolk |year=1998 |journal=Air Force Magazine |volume=81 |issue=7}}</ref>

In March 1951, Doolittle was appointed a special assistant to the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Chief of Staff of the Air Force]], serving as a civilian in scientific matters which led to Air Force ballistic missile and space programs. In 1952, following a string of three air crashes in two months at [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]], the President of the United States, [[Harry S. Truman]], appointed him to lead a presidential commission examining the safety of urban airports.<ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=Preston |editor-first=Edmund |title=FAA Historical Chronology: Civil Aviation and the Federal Government, 1926–1996 |url=https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/37596/dot_37596_DS1.pdf |access-date=5 October 2020 |website=Repository and Open Science Access Portal; National Transportation Library; United States Department of Transportation |publisher=United States Federal Aviation Administration |quote=20 February 1952: President Truman established a temporary Airport Commission under the chairmanship of James H. Doolittle, with CAA Administrator C.F. Horne and J.C. Hunsaker of NACA as members. The action responded to a series of crashes, due to varied causes, in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. These events had raised residents’ fears and prompted authorities to close Newark Airport temporarily. |page=[https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/37596/dot_37596_DS1.pdf#page=55 55]-56}}</ref> The report "Airports and Their Neighbors" led to zoning requirements for buildings near approaches, early noise control requirements, and initial work on "super airports" with {{convert|10,000|foot|adj=on}} runways, suited to 150 ton aircraft.

Doolittle was appointed a life member of the [[MIT Corporation]], the university's board of trustees, an uncommon permanent appointment, and served as an MIT Corporation Member for 40 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/corporation/membership/pastmembers.html |title=Members of the MIT Corporation |website=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]}}</ref>

In 1954, President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] asked Doolittle to perform a study of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]; the resulting work was known as the [[Doolittle Report, 1954]], and was classified for a number of years.

From 1957 to 1958, he was [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics#NACA chairmen|chairman]] of the [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics]] (NACA). This period was during the events of [[Sputnik I|Sputnik]], [[Vanguard 1|Vanguard]] and [[Explorer I|Explorer]]. He was the last person to hold this position, as the NACA was superseded by [[NASA]]. Doolittle was asked to serve as the first NASA administrator, but he turned it down.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Putnam |first1=William D. |first2=Eugene M. |last2=Emme |author2-link=Eugene M. Emme |title=I Was There: 'The Tremendous Potential of Rocketry' |journal=Air & Space Magazine |date=September 2012 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/space/i-was-there-the-tremendous-potential-of-rocketry-18946468/ |access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref>

Doolittle retired from [[Air Force Reserve]] duty on February 28, 1959. He remained active in other capacities, including chairman of the board of [[TRW Inc.|TRW]] Space Technology Laboratories.  ''Doolittle Drive'' at TRW's [[Space Park]] was named in his honor.

==Personal life==
[[File:James H. Doolittle by Garfield Jones, 1986.JPEG|thumb|Doolittle photographed in 1986]]

Doolittle married Josephine "Joe" E. Daniels on December 24, 1917. At a dinner celebration after Jimmy Doolittle's first all-instrument flight in 1929, Josephine Doolittle asked her guests to sign her white damask tablecloth. Later, she embroidered the names in black. She continued this tradition, collecting hundreds of signatures from the aviation world. The tablecloth was donated to the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. Married for exactly 71 years, Josephine Doolittle died on December 24, 1988, five years before her husband.<ref>{{cite news|last=Barnes|first=Bart|date=September 29, 1993|title=Gen. James Dolittle Dies|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1993/09/29/gen-james-doolittle-dies/21e9a241-b634-4fb4-a338-4e56b1b1a690/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=November 12, 2020}}</ref>

The Doolittles had two sons, James Jr., and John. Both became military officers and pilots. James Jr. was an [[A-26 Invader]] pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and later a fighter pilot in the [[U.S. Air Force]] in the late 1940s through the late 1950s. He died by suicide in 1958, aged 38.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20060720%2FFEATURES%2F607200583%2F1021%2FFEATURES02|title=My grandfather The General|last=Rife|first=Susan L.|date=July 20, 2006|publisher=Herald Tribune|access-date=May 1, 2009|archive-date=October 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004043055/http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20060720%2FFEATURES%2F607200583%2F1021%2FFEATURES02|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the time of his death, James Jr. was a Major and commander of the [[524th Fighter Squadron|524th Fighter-Bomber Squadron]], piloting the [[F-101 Voodoo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19580415&id=4nEgAAAAIBAJ&pg=1734,4598721|title=James Doolittle Jr. Commits Suicide |work=[[Lewiston Evening Journal]] |location=Lewiston/Auburn, Maine |agency=[[Associated Press]] |page=5 |via=Google News Archive Search}}</ref>

The other son, John P. Doolittle, retired from the Air Force as a colonel, and his grandson, Colonel James H. Doolittle III, was the vice commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center at [[Edwards Air Force Base]], California.

James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle died from a [[stroke]] at the age of 96 in [[Pebble Beach, California]], on September 27, 1993, and is buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] in [[Virginia]], near [[Washington, D.C.]], next to his wife.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Notable-Graves/Medal-of-Honor-Recipients/World-War-II-MoH-recipients/James-H-Doolittle|title=James "Jimmy" H. Doolittle|website=www.arlingtoncemetery.mil}}<!-- This is the official ANC page --></ref> In his honor at the funeral, there was also a flyover of Miss Mitchell, a lone [[B-25 Mitchell]], and USAF Eighth Air Force bombers from [[Barksdale Air Force Base]], [[Louisiana]]. After a brief graveside service, fellow Doolittle Raider [[Bill Bower]] began the final tribute on the bugle. When emotion took over, Doolittle's great-grandson, Paul Dean Crane, Jr., played [[Taps (bugle call)|Taps]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2011/01/bill-bower-dies-doolittle-raid.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141201112741/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2011/01/bill-bower-dies-doolittle-raid.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 1, 2014|title=Post Mortem – Bill Bower dies; Doolittle Raider was last surviving pilot|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

Doolittle was initiated to the [[Scottish Rite Freemasonry]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dalhousielodge.org/homepagelinks/famous.htm|title=Famous masons|website=Dalhousie Lodge F. & A.M., Newtonville, Massachusetts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903081911/http://www.dalhousielodge.org/homepagelinks/famous.htm|archive-date=September 3, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/famous.html|title=List of notable freemasons|access-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011004153632/http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/famous.html|website=freemasonry.bcy.ca|archive-date=4 October 2001|url-status=live}}</ref> where he took the [[Master Mason|33rd degree]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.matawanlodge.org/famous.htm|title=Celebrating More Than 100 Years of Freemasonry: Famous Masons in History|access-date=13 October 2018|website=Matawan Lodhe N0 192 F&AM, New Jersey|quotation=Jimmy Doolittle, 33°, Grand Cross|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930231443/http://www.matawanlodge.org/famous.htm|archive-date=September 30, 2018|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mastermason.com/goldenfleece89/Famous%20Masons/Famous%20Masons.htm|title=Gallery of famous masons|website=mastermason.com|access-date=13 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006221127/http://www.mastermason.com/goldenfleece89/Famous%20Masons/Famous%20Masons.htm|archive-date=October 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> becoming also a Shriner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.masonrytoday.com/index.php?new_month=09&new_day=27&new_year=2015|title=James Harold 'Jimmy' Doolittle Passes Away|access-date=13 October 2018|website=masonrytoday.com|quotation=With special dispensation from the Grand Lodge of California and the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, Doolittle was given all three degrees on August 16th, 1918 in Lake Charles Lodge No. 16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013210628/http://www.masonrytoday.com/index.php?new_month=09&new_day=27&new_year=2015| archive-date=October 13, 2018}}</ref>{{clear left}}

==Dates of military rank==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Insignia !! Rank !! Service and components !! Date
|-
|No insignia
|[[Cadet|Aviation Cadet]] ||United States Army Reserve ([[Officers Reserve Corps]])<br>[[Signal Corps (United States Army)]] 
| 6 October 1917
|-
|No insignia
|[[Private First Class]] || [[United States Army Reserve]] (Enlisted Reserve Corps) || 10 November 1917
|-
|[[File:US-O1 insignia.svg|13px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[US Second Lieutenant|Second Lieutenant]]||United States Army Reserve ([[Officers Reserve Corps]])<br>(Signal Corps)
| 11 March 1918
|-
|[[File:US-O1 insignia.svg|13px|center]]
| &nbsp;Second Lieutenant||[[Regular Army]] ([[United States Army Air Service]])
| 1 July (accepted 19 September) 1920
|-
|[[File:US-O2 insignia.svg|13px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[US First Lieutenant|First Lieutenant]]||Regular Army (United States Army Air Service)
| 1 July 1920<br />Resigned 15 February 1930
|-
|[[File:US-O4 insignia.svg|40px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[Major (United States)|Major]]||United States Army Reserve (Specialist Reserve Corps)
| 5 March 1930
|-
|[[File:US-O4 insignia.svg|40px|center]]
| &nbsp;Major||United States Army Reserve ([[United States Army Air Corps]])
| 1 July 1940 
|-
|[[File:US-O5 insignia.svg|40px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]]|| [[Army of the United States]] ([[United States Army Air Forces]])
| 2 January 1942
|-
|[[File:US-O7 insignia.svg|33px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]]|| Army of the United States (United States Army Air Forces)
| 23 April 1942
|-
|[[File:US-O8 insignia.svg|66px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[Major general (United States)|Major General]]|| Army of the United States (United States Army Air Forces)
| 20 November 1942
|-
|[[File:US-O9 insignia.svg|100px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lieutenant General]]||Army of the United States (United States Army Air Forces)
| 13 March 1944
|-
|[[File:US-O9 insignia.svg|100px|center]]
| &nbsp;Lieutenant General||Army of the United States (United States Army Air Forces Reserve)
| 5 January 1946
|-
|[[File:US-O7 insignia.svg|33px|center]]
| &nbsp;Brigadier General|| Regular Army (United States Army Air Forces)
| 1 May 1946
|-
|[[File:US-O9 insignia.svg|100px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lieutenant General]]||[[United States Army Air Forces]]
| 10 May 1946
|-
|[[File:US-O9 insignia.svg|100px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lieutenant General]]|| [[United States Air Force]]
[[Air Force Reserve|Air Force Reserve Command]]
| 18 September 1947
|-
|[[File:US-O9 insignia.svg|100px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lieutenant General]]|| [[United States Air Force]]
[[Air Force Reserve|Air Force Reserve Command]]

Retired List
| 28 February 1959
|-
|[[File:US-O10 insignia.svg|133px|center]]
| &nbsp;[[General (United States)|General (Honorary)]]|| [[United States Air Force]]
[[Air Force Reserve|Air Force Reserve Command]]

Retired List
| 4 April 1985
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align: center;" | '''Source:'''<ref>{{cite book|date=1930|page=176 |title=Official Army Register|location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|url=https://archive.org/details/officialarmyregi1930unit/page/176/mode/2up }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1943|journal=Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America |volume=84 |page= 214}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1943|journal=Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America |volume=84 |title=Page 726}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|date=1947|page=1964 |title=Official Army Register|location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|url=https://archive.org/details/officialarmyregi1947unit/page/1964/mode/2up }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/107225/general-james-harold-doolittle/ |title=General James Harold Doolittle |author=<!--Not stated-->|website=United States Air Force |publisher=U.S. Government |access-date=June 30, 2023}}</ref>
|}

==Honors and awards==
[[File:Reagan Goldwater pin star on Jimmy Doolittle 1985.jpg|thumb|left|Doolittle is awarded a fourth star, pinned on by President [[Ronald Reagan]] (left) and Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] (right), April 10, 1985.]]
On April 4, 1985, President [[Ronald Reagan]] promoted Doolittle to the rank of full four-star [[General (United States)|general]] (O-10) on the [[U.S. Air Force]] retired list. Initially, Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] had sponsored legislation to waive Doolittle's ineligibility by statute, since he was ineligible for the rank as a reservist as well as for lack of being on active duty. However, the legislation stalled in the House, causing Goldwater to request that Reagan promote him with only Senate consent. This was arguably unlawful because of the Senate's inability to waive statutory restrictions.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASOR/Journals/Volume-1_Number-4/Mears.pdf | title=Stars on Tombstones: Honorary Promotions of Air Corps and Air Force Leaders | journal=Air & Space Operations Review | date=2022-12-10 | access-date=2022-12-10| pages=16}}</ref>  In a later ceremony, President [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] and retired [[Air Force Reserve]] Major General [[Barry Goldwater]] pinned on Doolittle's [[General (United States)|four-star insignia]]. Later, in 1986, the Comptroller General ruled that the promotion was unlawful for pay or benefit purposes due to the lack of implementing legislation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gao.gov/assets/b-224142.pdf|title=Decision|publisher=U.S. Government Accountability Office|date=1986-11-28}}</ref> This effectively made it entirely honorary.

In addition to his [[Medal of Honor]] for the Tokyo raid, Doolittle received the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], two [[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Distinguished Service Medals]], the [[Silver Star]], three [[Distinguished Flying Cross (U.S.)|Distinguished Flying Crosses]], the [[Bronze Star Medal]], four [[Air Medal]]s, and decorations from [[Belgium]], [[China]], [[Ecuador]], [[France]], [[Great Britain]], and [[Poland]]. He was the first American to be awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Medal of Freedom. He is also one of only two persons (the other being [[Douglas MacArthur]]) to receive both the Medal of Honor and a British knighthood, when he was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]].

{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
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|-
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|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Army of Occupation of Germany ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=8|type=service-star|ribbon=European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|name=World War II Victory Medal ribbon|width=110}}
|[[File:Armed Forces Reserve Medal ribbon.svg|106px]]<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -62px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Hourglass Device Bronze.svg|18px]]</span>
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=4|type=oak|ribbon=Air Force Longevity Service ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=Order of the Bath (ribbon).svg|width=110}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=BOL Order of Condor of the Andes - Officer BAR.png|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=Order of Abdón Calderón 1st Class (Ecuador) - ribbon bar.png|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=Ordre de l'Ouissam Alaouite Chevalier ribbon (Maroc).svg|width=110}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=POL Polonia Restituta Kawalerski BAR.svg|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=Croix_de_guerre_1939-1945_with_palm_(France)_-_ribbon_bar.png|width=110}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=Oorlogskruis with Palm.jpg|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=Order_of_the_Cloud_and_Banner_3rd.gif|width=110}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=|type=service-star|ribbon=Medal of the Armed Forces, A-First Class ribbon.png|width=110}}
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan="3"|[[United States Aviator Badge|U.S. Air Force Command Pilot Badge]]
|-
|colspan="3"|[[United States Naval Aviator|Honorary Naval Aviator Badge]] (1981)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/16/us/doolittle-is-awarded-navy-aviator-wings.html|title=Doolittle Is Awarded Navy Aviator Wings|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1981-12-16|access-date=2023-11-11}}</ref>
|-
|[[Medal of Honor]]
|[[Army Distinguished Service Medal]]<br>with bronze [[oak leaf cluster]]
|[[Silver Star]]
|-
|[[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]<br>with two bronze oak leaf clusters
|[[Bronze Star]]
|[[Air Medal]]<br>with three bronze oak leaf clusters
|-
|[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]
|[[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]]
|[[Army of Occupation of Germany Medal]]
|-
|[[American Defense Service Medal]]<br>with one [[service star]]
|[[American Campaign Medal]]
|[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]<br>with bronze [[campaign star]]
|-
|[[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]]<br>with one silver and three bronze [[campaign stars]]
|[[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]]
|[[Armed Forces Reserve Medal]]<br>with bronze [[hourglass device]]
|-
|[[Air Force Longevity Service Award]]<br>with four bronze oak leaf clusters
|[[National Defense Service Medal]]
|''[[Order of the Bath]]''<br>Knight Commander (KCB)<br>([[United Kingdom]])
|-
|''[[Order of the Condor of the Andes]]''<br>Officer<br>([[Bolivia]])
|''[[Order of Abdon Calderón]]''<br>1st Class<br>([[Ecuador]])
|''[[Order of Ouissam Alaouite]]''<br>Knight<br>([[Morocco]])
|-
|''[[Order of Polonia Restituta]]''<br>(Krzyż Kawalerski)<br>([[Poland]])
|''[[Legion of Honour|Légion d'honneur]]''<br>Grand-Cross<br>([[France]])
|''[[Croix de guerre 1939–1945|WWII Croix de Guerre]]''<br>with bronze Palm<br>(France)
|-
|''[[War Cross (Belgium)|WWII Croix de Guerre]]''<br>with bronze Palm<br>([[Belgium]])
|''[[Order of the Cloud and Banner]]''<br>3rd Grade<br>([[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]])
|''[[Orders, decorations, and medals of the Republic of China|Medal of the Armed Forces]]''<br>A-1<br>(Republic of China)
|}

In 1972, Doolittle received the [[Tony Jannus Award]] for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation, in recognition of the development of instrument flight.

Doolittle was awarded the [[Public Welfare Medal]] from the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] in 1959.<ref>{{cite web|title=Public Welfare Award|url=http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_pwm|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|access-date=February 17, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229180311/http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_pwm|archive-date=December 29, 2010}}</ref> In 1983, he was awarded the [[United States Military Academy]]'s [[Sylvanus Thayer Award]]. He was inducted in the [[Motorsports Hall of Fame of America]] as the only member of the air racing category in the inaugural class of 1989, and into the [[Aerospace Walk of Honor]] in the inaugural class of 1990.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36299122/the_los_angeles_times/|title=Ground-Level Monuments Honor Heroes of the Air|last1=Kaplan|first1=Tracey|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=September 23, 1990|page=840|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

===Medal of Honor citation===
<blockquote>For conspicuous leadership above 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.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=March 21, 2010|url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-a-f.html|title=World War II (A-F); Doolittle, Jimmy entry|work=Medal of Honor recipients|publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]]|date=August 3, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616211621/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-a-f.html|archive-date=June 16, 2008}}</ref></blockquote>

'''Other awards'''
* In 1972, he was awarded the [[Horatio Alger Award]], given to dedicated community leaders who demonstrate individual initiative and a commitment to excellence; as exemplified by remarkable achievements accomplished through honesty, hard work, self-reliance and perseverance over adversity. The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. bears the name of the renowned author Horatio Alger, Jr., whose tales of overcoming adversity through unyielding perseverance and basic moral principles captivated the public in the late 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.horatioalger.org/member_info.cfm?memberid=doo72|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913001043/http://www.horatioalger.org/member_info.cfm?memberid=doo72|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2012|title=Horatio Alger Association Member Information|publisher=Horatioalger.org|access-date=8 July 2014}}</ref>
* In 1977, Doolittle received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service}}</ref>
* On December 11, 1981, Doolittle was awarded Honorary Naval Aviator wings in recognition of his many years of support of military aviation by [[Chief of Naval Operations]] Admiral [[Thomas B. Hayward]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/pdf/app18.pdf|title=Honorary Naval Aviator Designations|publisher=U.S. Navy History Office|access-date=12 April 2016}}</ref>
* In 1983, Doolittle was awarded the [[Sylvanus Thayer Award]].

'''Honors'''
* The city of [[Doolittle, Missouri]], located 5 miles west of [[Rolla, Missouri|Rolla]] was named in his honor after World War II.
* Doolittle was invested into the Sovereign Order of Cyprus and his medallion is now on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
* His Bolivian [[Order of the Condor of the Andes]] is in the collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/go-flight|title=Go Flight|date=June 23, 2016|website=National Air and Space Museum}}</ref>
* In 1967, James H. Doolittle was inducted into the [[National Aviation Hall of Fame]].
* The [[Society of Experimental Test Pilots]] annually presents the [[James H. Doolittle Award]] in his memory. The award is for "outstanding accomplishment in technical management or engineering achievement in aerospace technology".
* Doolittle was inducted into the [[San Diego Air & Space Museum#International Air & Space Hall of Fame|International Air & Space Hall of Fame]] at the [[San Diego Air & Space Museum]] in 1966.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sandiegoairandspace.org/hall-of-fame/honoree/james-h.-doolittle-jr|title=San Diego Air & Space Museum – Historical Balboa Park, San Diego|website=sandiegoairandspace.org}}</ref>
* The oldest residence hall on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's campus, Doolittle Hall (1968), was named in his honor.
* He was inducted into the [[Motorsports Hall of Fame of America]] in 1989.<ref name=MSHoF>{{Cite web|title=James Doolittle|url=https://www.mshf.com/hall-of-fame/inductees/james-doolittle.html|access-date=2023-02-03|website=[[Motorsports Hall of Fame of America]]}}</ref>
* ''[[Air & Space/Smithsonian]]'' ranked him the greatest aviator in history.<ref name=AirSpaceMag>{{cite web|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/10-great-pilots-4026745/|title=10 All-Time Great Pilots|work=Air & Space|date=2003}}</ref>
* [[Flying Magazine|''Flying'']] magazine ranked him 6th on its list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.<ref name=FlyingMag>{{cite web|url=http://www.flyingmag.com/photo-gallery/photos/51-heroes-aviation?pnid=41849|title=51 Heroes of Aviation|work=Flying Magazine|date=2013|access-date=September 22, 2014|archive-date=March 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302095116/https://www.flyingmag.com/photo-gallery/photos/51-heroes-aviation/?pnid=41849|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Doolittle Drive ([[California State Route 61]]) runs along the east side of the Oakland Airport (OAK) in Oakland, California. It parallels Earhart Road<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Earhart+Rd,+Oakland,+CA+94621/@37.7302203,-122.212168,15.75z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x808f85b6cbdad8f1:0xe63ee3f5fe4749cf!8m2!3d37.7311587!4d-122.2117783|title=Earhart Road|access-date=25 August 2021|via=Google Earth}}</ref> (another aviation-themed name), then heads toward [[Hayward, California]].
* A television special, ''All-Star Tribute to General Jimmy Doolittle'', aired in 1986 to honor his 90th birthday. Celebrity appearances included [[Bob Hope]], [[Gerald Ford]], and [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=General Doolittle Still the Hero at MiramarTribute|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 6, 1986|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-06-me-9030-story.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=All-Star Tribute to General Jimmy Doolittle|website=[[IMDb]]|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193548/}}</ref>
* General Doolittle was named as the inaugural [[USAFA Class exemplar|class exemplar]] at the [[United States Air Force Academy]] for the Class of 2000.

===Namesakes===
[[File:DoolittleDrive-sign.jpg|thumb|upright|Street named after Jimmy Doolittle at TRW's Space Park in Redondo Beach, California where he served on the board of directors during the 1960s.]]

Many US Air Force bases have facilities and streets named for Doolittle, such as the Jimmy Doolittle Event Center<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jimmy Doolittle Event Center – 5th Force Support Squadron|url=https://5thforcesupport.com/activities/jimmydoolittle/|access-date=2021-12-17|language=en-US|archive-date=December 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217170445/https://5thforcesupport.com/activities/jimmydoolittle/|url-status=dead}}</ref> at [[Minot Air Force Base]] and the Doolittle Lounge<ref>{{Cite web|title=Event Center – Go Goodfellow {{!}} Goodfellow Air Force Base {{!}} 17 FSS Goodfellow AFB Events – San Angelo, Texas|url=https://www.gogoodfellow.com/event-center/|access-date=2021-12-17|language=en-US}}</ref> at [[Goodfellow Air Force Base]].

The headquarters of the United States Air Force Academy Association of Graduates (AOG) on the grounds of the [[United States Air Force Academy]] is named Doolittle Hall.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Doolittle+Hall/@38.9977589,-104.8778259,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x871352e8d63283f9:0x89f4cef830f93e32!8m2!3d38.9974704!4d-104.8754852|title=Doolittle Hall, Academy Drive, USAF Academy|access-date=25 August 2021|via=Google Earth}}</ref>

Achievement 6 of the United States Air Force Auxiliary, also known as [[Civil Air Patrol]], is named the Doolittle Award.

==In popular culture==
* [[Spencer Tracy]] played Doolittle in [[Mervyn LeRoy]]'s 1944 film ''[[Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo]]''.
* [[Alec Baldwin]] played Doolittle in [[Michael Bay]]'s 2001 film ''[[Pearl Harbor (film)|Pearl Harbor]]''.
* [[Vincent Riotta]] played Jimmy Doolittle in Bille August's 2017 film ''[[The Chinese Widow]]'' aka ''The Hidden Soldier''.
* [[Aaron Eckhart]] played Doolittle in [[Roland Emmerich]]'s 2019 film ''[[Midway (2019 film)|Midway]]''.
* [[Bob Clampett]]'s 1946 cartoon ''[[Baby Bottleneck]]'' briefly portrays a dog named "Jimmy Do-quite-a-little", who invents a failed rocket ship.
* [[Spike Jones]]' wartime song "Casey Jones" commemorates the raid.

==See also==
* [[Aviation history]]
* [[List of firsts in aviation]]
* [[List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II#D|List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book |last=Hoppes |first=Jonna Doolittle |author-link=Jonna Doolittle Hoppes|title=Calculated Risk|isbn=1-891661-44-2|year=2005|publisher=Santa Monica Press |url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781891661440}}
* {{cite web |last=Scott |first=James M. |date=2015 |title=The Untold Story of the Vengeful Japanese Attack After the Doolittle Raid |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/untold-story-vengeful-japanese-attack-doolittle-raid-180955001/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en |access-date=2020-02-15 |archive-date=22 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322045050/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/untold-story-vengeful-japanese-attack-doolittle-raid-180955001/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web|access-date=March 21, 2010|url=http://www.af.mil/history/person.asp?dec=1940&pid=123006483|title=United States Air Force|author=SSG Cornelius Seon (Retired) (adapted public domain text)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429010403/http://www.af.mil/history/person.asp?dec=1940&pid=123006483|archive-date=April 29, 2009}}
* {{cite book|last=Wolk|first=Herman S.|year=2003|title=Fulcrum of Power: Essays on the United States Air Force and National Security|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Air Force History and Museums Program|url=http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101202-005.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127031911/http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101202-005.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 27, 2011|access-date=31 October 2013}}
* {{cite book |last=Yamamoto |first=Masahiro |title=Nanking: Anatomy of an Atrocity |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Praeger |date=2000 |isbn=978-0275969042}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{cite web|access-date=March 21, 2010|url=http://www.jimmydoolittlemuseum.org|title=Travis Air Museum, supporting the Jimmy Doolittle Air & Space Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202061104/http://www.jimmydoolittlemuseum.org/|archive-date=February 2, 2011|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|access-date=March 21, 2010|url=http://www.maritimequest.com/misc_pages/doolittle_raid_april_1942_page_1.htm|title=Maritimequest Doolittle Raid Photo Gallery}}
* {{cite web|access-date=March 21, 2010|url=http://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/world_war_2/3038106.html|title=Article: Jimmy Doolittle Reminiscences About World War II|author=William R. Wilson|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907061221/http://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/world_war_2/3038106.html|archive-date=September 7, 2008}}
* {{cite web|access-date=March 21, 2010|url=http://www.lylefrancispadilla.com/doolittle.html|title=Medal of Honor recipients on film}}
* {{cite web|access-date=March 21, 2010|url=http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/events/2006-02-16-jonnaDoolittleHoppes.jsp|title=Interview with granddaughter Joanna Doolittle Hoppes at the Pritzker Military Library}}
* {{cite web|access-date=March 21, 2010|url=http://www.doolittleraider.com/|title=DoolittleRaiders.com}}

'''Media'''
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.52240|name=15 AF Heritage – High Strategy – Bombers and Tankers Team|description=(1980)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.65711|name=Activities of the U.S. Army Air Service |description=(1925)}}
* [http://www.donhollway.com/doolittle-geebee/index.html "Doolittle Tames the Gee Bee"]{{snd}}Story of the 1932 Thompson Trophy race. Includes quotes, photos, video
* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?189705-1/calculated-risk-extraordinary-life-jimmy-doolittle ''Calculated Risk: The Extraordinary Life of Jimmy Doolittle, Aviation Pioneer and World War II Hero'']{{snd}}Presentation by Jonna Doolittle Hoppes on May 18, 2006, [[C-SPAN]]

{{WWII Pointblank}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Aviation}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doolittle, Jimmy}}
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