Destination: Tokyo; A Pictorial History of Doolittle's Tokyo Raid, April 18, 1942

Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1988. Fifth Printing. Trade Paperback. Very good. James Farmer (front cover artwork), Richard Knoblo. viii, 120 pages. Oversized book, measuring 11 inches by 8-1/2 inches. Maps. Illustrations. Bibliography. Includes Preface, Introduction, Acknowledgments & Photo Credits, Appendix, Raider's Scrapbook, and Bibliography. Includes eight chapters, including Background, Concept through Training, On Board the Hornet, Planning and Detection, The Mission, Experience in China; Effects of the Raid; and Aftermath and Legacy of the Raid. Also includes seven maps: Military situation in the Pacific; Original Plan of Attack; Tokyo Raiders Training & Repair Sites, January - April 1942; Autographed Map of the Raid; Bomber Routes Over Japan; Japan, China, Siberia, April 1942; and Crash Sites in China. This pictorial history explores the entire gamut of Doolittle's Tokyo Raid--from the Japanese aggressions in the early 1940's to present photographs of survivors. Many of these pictures have never been published before, and wee procured from government and private archives as well as the raiders themselves. The men who participated in this mission wee typical of those many dedicated Americans who have risked and sacrificed their lives for the freedoms of this great nation since its founding in 1776. Stan Cohen is a native of Charleston, West Virginia, and a graduate geologist. After many years as a geologist, and as director of a historical museum, he established Pictorial Histories Publishing Company in Missoula, Montana, in 1976, and has authored or coauthored 71 books and published over 350. He is the director of the Museum of Mountain Flying in Missoula and is involved with several other historical associations. Stan Cohen takes you back to America's first major strike against Japan since Pearl Harbor, 4 months earlier. What an incredible event! On April 18, 1942, after being spotted by a Japanese boat, Jimmy Doolittle and his 16 air crews took off from the USS Hornet to bomb Tokyo and other cities. It was a full 24 hours earlier than they had planned to launch, as well as hundreds of miles away from the intended launch point. Before they left, they all knew that with this sudden change in plans, they did not have enough fuel to fly all the way to friendly areas in China to land safely. They chose to go anyway. After hitting their intended targets, every single plane went down either in the water or in occupied China (except one which managed to land in Russia where the crew was promptly interned). Eight men were captured by the Japanese and only 4 of them survived the 3 1/2 year imprisonment. Japan was shocked and mortified that someone was actually able to hit them on their homeland so unexpectedly. It was a major morale booster for the USA at a time when the Japanese were winning in the Pacific. Mr. Cohen includes some fantastic photos and at the end of the book he includes a follow-up about the surviving crewmembers today. There are also accounts of expeditions that went back to the crash sites and talked to the Chinese people who helped the Raiders make it back home safely.