Read Online Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor by James M. Scott - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: James M. Scott
Tags: United States, Asia, History, World War II, Military, 20th Century, Japan, Aviation, Americas, Pulitzer Prize Finalist 2016 HISTORY
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Alaska and hunt for gold. “As soon as I have some money, I’ll send for you.”
“My mother would never approve.”
“I am going to marry you,” he countered, “not your mother.”
When he graduated from high school in spring of 1914, Doolittle accepted his father’s invitation to return to Alaska. Doolittle and his father had never been close, and the reunion failed to remedy the pair’s strained relationship. The younger Doolittle soon set off on his own, living in a tent and eating nothing but salmon as he panned unsuccessfully for gold. Doolittle realized after several weeks that he had had enough. He hitchhiked back to the coastal town of Seward and bade his father farewell, not knowing that it would be the last time he ever saw him. Doolittle hired on as a steward aboard a Seattle-bound ship and then stowed away on a freighter to Los Angeles, his dream of striking it rich now over. He planned instead to enroll in college and earn a degree. “Alaska was not the land of opportunity I thought it might be,” he later wrote, adding, “It was a far wiser Jim Doolittle who entered college.”
Doolittle studied at Los Angeles Junior College for two years, then enrolled at the University of California School of Mines at Berkeley, where he boxed on the varsity team and professionally to help pay the bills. He resurrected the alias Jim Pierce to hide his bouts from his mother and Joe. He slugged his way through a string of weak opponents before he climbed into the ring with a nimble pro. Doolittle knew right away he was in trouble. “He made a monkey out of me,” he later recalled. “That was the end of my boxing career.” Doolittle decided instead to focus on his education, though his battles in the ring had taught him an invaluable lesson in life, one he would articulate years later in a letter to his wife after the couple’s youngest son lost a college boxing match. “Luckiest thing in the world that John was whipped by the Syracuse boy. Some time in life we have to learn how to lose and the sooner the better,” Doolittle wrote. “Every boy should learn how to win graciously and lose courageously.”
The United States entered World War I in 1917, prompting many of Doolittle’s classmates to enlist. Never one to miss out on a good fight, Doolittle decided to skip his senior year and join the Army. He had no desire to serve in the infantry or coastal artillery, but saw potential in the fledgling air force after a recruiter told him the Army planned to train asmany as five thousand new pilots. Flight had long fascinated Doolittle, who as a teenager had attempted to build both a glider and a monoplane on the basis of plans he found in the magazine Popular Mechanics , neither of which ever flew. He attended ground school for eight weeks at the University of California, using his holiday break to persuade Joe to marry him. Doolittle had no money, so Joe paid for the license with cash her mother had given her as a Christmas gift. The couple wed Christmas Eve at Los Angeles City Hall. Joe’s remaining twenty dollars paid for the honeymoon in San Diego, where the couple survived off cafeterias that offered service members free meals.
Doolittle finished ground school and then reported for pilot training at Rockwell Field near San Diego. He had never before been up in a plane and was excited for the experience when he climbed into a Curtis JN-4 for his first flight, on January 28, 1918. The two-seater biplane commonly known as a Jenny was America’s first mass-produced aircraft. Made from little more than wood, fabric, and wires, the trainer had a maximum speed of just seventy-five miles per hour. Doolittle and instructor Charles Todd taxied out for takeoff when two planes collided in the skies over the airfield and crashed. Doolittle jumped from the cockpit and darted to the wreckage of the closest plane, occupied by a student pilot who had flown solo. To Doolittle’s horror, the student was dead. In the
“My mother would never approve.”
“I am going to marry you,” he countered, “not your mother.”
When he graduated from high school in spring of 1914, Doolittle accepted his father’s invitation to return to Alaska. Doolittle and his father had never been close, and the reunion failed to remedy the pair’s strained relationship. The younger Doolittle soon set off on his own, living in a tent and eating nothing but salmon as he panned unsuccessfully for gold. Doolittle realized after several weeks that he had had enough. He hitchhiked back to the coastal town of Seward and bade his father farewell, not knowing that it would be the last time he ever saw him. Doolittle hired on as a steward aboard a Seattle-bound ship and then stowed away on a freighter to Los Angeles, his dream of striking it rich now over. He planned instead to enroll in college and earn a degree. “Alaska was not the land of opportunity I thought it might be,” he later wrote, adding, “It was a far wiser Jim Doolittle who entered college.”
Doolittle studied at Los Angeles Junior College for two years, then enrolled at the University of California School of Mines at Berkeley, where he boxed on the varsity team and professionally to help pay the bills. He resurrected the alias Jim Pierce to hide his bouts from his mother and Joe. He slugged his way through a string of weak opponents before he climbed into the ring with a nimble pro. Doolittle knew right away he was in trouble. “He made a monkey out of me,” he later recalled. “That was the end of my boxing career.” Doolittle decided instead to focus on his education, though his battles in the ring had taught him an invaluable lesson in life, one he would articulate years later in a letter to his wife after the couple’s youngest son lost a college boxing match. “Luckiest thing in the world that John was whipped by the Syracuse boy. Some time in life we have to learn how to lose and the sooner the better,” Doolittle wrote. “Every boy should learn how to win graciously and lose courageously.”
The United States entered World War I in 1917, prompting many of Doolittle’s classmates to enlist. Never one to miss out on a good fight, Doolittle decided to skip his senior year and join the Army. He had no desire to serve in the infantry or coastal artillery, but saw potential in the fledgling air force after a recruiter told him the Army planned to train asmany as five thousand new pilots. Flight had long fascinated Doolittle, who as a teenager had attempted to build both a glider and a monoplane on the basis of plans he found in the magazine Popular Mechanics , neither of which ever flew. He attended ground school for eight weeks at the University of California, using his holiday break to persuade Joe to marry him. Doolittle had no money, so Joe paid for the license with cash her mother had given her as a Christmas gift. The couple wed Christmas Eve at Los Angeles City Hall. Joe’s remaining twenty dollars paid for the honeymoon in San Diego, where the couple survived off cafeterias that offered service members free meals.
Doolittle finished ground school and then reported for pilot training at Rockwell Field near San Diego. He had never before been up in a plane and was excited for the experience when he climbed into a Curtis JN-4 for his first flight, on January 28, 1918. The two-seater biplane commonly known as a Jenny was America’s first mass-produced aircraft. Made from little more than wood, fabric, and wires, the trainer had a maximum speed of just seventy-five miles per hour. Doolittle and instructor Charles Todd taxied out for takeoff when two planes collided in the skies over the airfield and crashed. Doolittle jumped from the cockpit and darted to the wreckage of the closest plane, occupied by a student pilot who had flown solo. To Doolittle’s horror, the student was dead. In the
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