Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

At a time when the public mood was at its lowest ebb ever, after the overwhelming defeat at Pearl Harbor - or, actually, the sneak attack on our Pacific Fleet that caught us totally unprepared, we desperately needed something to restore some semblance of hope to come forth.The Japanese had just sucker-punched us, and annihilated over 2400 of our soldiers and sailors, and, with the exception of our aircraft carriers, which just happened to be on other missions at the time, totally wiped out our entire Pacific Fleet.Added to the fact that the Japanese were simply steam-rolling us every day and at every turn, the feeling of doom was settling deep into the national psyche.We were still reeling from the very idea of Japan, a tiny island nation, having the audacity to take on and actually attack, with an attitude of certain victory, a huge nation like the U.S.A.We just hadn't had time to get our thinking in order and wake up to the fact that these people were very serious, and we had better get equally serious about beating them.The idea of transporting land-based bombers by aircraft carrier to within striking distance of Japan, and then after the strike, since they were not equipped to return to the carrier for landing, having them fly on to land in China, was a brilliant stroke of retribution.I don't know if President Roosevelt thought it up himself, but he was certainly 100% behind it, and the spark was lit to pull out all the stops and give the Japanese a taste of their own medicine.The idea of retaliating with an "eye for an eye," when the Japanese very smugly felt that there was nothing we could do, went a long way toward restoring our self-confidence and striking fear in the hearts of our tormentors, with the definite implication that there was more to come, and that it would be much worse.And that proved to be exactly what happened.The curious part of the whole thing was that they didn't find it difficult to travel, in strength, to seek out and attack Pearl Harbor, but for some reason felt that we wouldn't be able to find them to give them tit for tat when the opportunity presented itself.But unlike an aircraft carrier, an island can't perform evasive maneuvers.The warlords of Japan made it even harder for themselves than it needed to be, by declaring that they would fight to the last man and never give an inch, which gave us no choice but to resort to taking them at their word, and proceed to wipe out the last man, if that's what they insisted on.But as it transpired, the fact that they utilized the aircraft carrier to carry out their devastation only hastened the demise of the battleship and brought forth the era of the carrier - and with it the stupendous rush of inventiveness, in one after another new plane designs, each one outdoing the one that went before.By a fluke, our meager collection of rudimentary aircraft carriers escaped the surprise attack, and pulled the greatest upset in naval history in our devastating victory at Midway.Our battleships were history, and so we replaced them with bigger and newer and more modern aircraft carriers, and once the party started, we just kept it going until it culminated in the complete devastation of Japan.Even without the atomic bomb, we fire-bombed so much of Japan that whole cities were virtually leveled, and still they insisted on continuing the war.The difference was that the atomic bomb was so totally devastating, they could but wonder what would happen next.If they only knew - we had virtually shot our wad, and didn't have any more bombs to drop.Truly a perfect example of reaping what you have sown.

This is a great first person account by an actual member of the famous "Doolittle Raid". The book is written by Captain Lawson, a pilot. The book reads as a memoir that is not written by a professional author. The book can be read and appreciated by a wide range of readers.I cannot overstate how much I appreciate this book, Captain Lawson, and these other individuals. I will not risk being a "spoiler". America has never been a perfect country, including now. And the modern civil rights movement had not kicked into gear as of the onset of World War II. But there are a lot of reasons to be proud of, and thankful to, the "greatest generation". If you are looking for another reason, read this book. Thank You...

I love the movie, don't get me wrong. But, this fills in all those Hollywood gaps that now appear the size of the Grand Canyon. But, the book explains why so much had to be altered to protect those gallant Chinese who took on tremendous hardship and risked so much to get as many of them as possible to safety before the persistent Japanese pursuit caught up with them.Pretty sure this is a book I'll read many more times before I meet the end of my line. Will also highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about these magnificent heroes. Extremely inspiring.

I loved every single thing about this book - what a joy to read it. The concise, descriptive, steady pace Mr. Lawson wrote with was a joy on every page.I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys American history, especially WWII, but also to anyone who appreciates an honest, unadulterated testimony to human spirit.I chose 5 stars because I cannot recall the last time a book engaged me so thoroughly and so enthusiastically from the first word to the last page. Brilliant, brilliant piece of writing.

I can remember reading this book when I was just a young kid. It was my father's book and once I started reading it, I was hooked. I truly believe that my interest in aviation came from this reading.After joining the Navy, I was assigned to work in a control tower as an "Air Controlman". Also while in the Navy I leaned to fly and subsequently went to work for the FAA as an "Air Traffic Controller". It was during one of those days while working at the Santa Monica Airport control tower that I'll remember all my life.It was a Sunday and there was a "fly-in" and airshow going on. Even though it was a Sunday, my tower chief was in attendance and enjoying the show from the tower's vantage point. The chief, knowing that I was a WWII aviation nut, took me aside and said to me "lets take a ride". The tower building was located on the opposite side of the airport's runway from the cities airport office. It was in this location that all the commotion was. Speeches were going on and airplane rides given etc.The chief and I drove to the airport office and parked the car. After exiting the car we walked towards the airport office. Coming towards us was a very short man with a bald head, very tanned, with a big smile on his face. The three of us stopped together and the tower chief said to me, I want you to meet Jimmy Doolittle. I didn't know what to say, I was in shock. Jimmy Doolittle had been a hero of mine since reading this book. I shook the hand of a true aviation hero with such a long list of accomplishments, including the Tokyo raid. This man had shaken the hands of presidents, kings and just about everyone else of importance, and here I am shaking his.This meeting had been set up by my tower chief because my true love of aviation and it's history. To think that Jimmy Doolittle would spend his time to even entertain meeting me shows the character of the man.This is a great book. Ted Lawson did a good job of putting you in the cockpit with him and his crew and experiencing all the pain and suffering during their ordeal to reach safety...

This is the account, from one of the pilots on the mission, of the famous Doolittle raid on Japan in 1942. The film of the same name was based on this book.I have read many accounts of action in WW11 from those directly involved, and this stands out as one of the best. The author gives a vivid impression of how the idea of the raid came about, what the training was like, and how everyone involved (rather as with the Dambusters raid, with which this operation can be compared on many levels) tried to guess what the mission was going to be, as no-one was told until the voyage on the USS Hornet was well underway. Most gripping of all, from my point of view, was the level of tension experienced by all the crews as they neared their target - the sleeplessness, the anxiety, the self-searching - and the description of the launch of the mission, with all those lumbering bombers crowded together on the cramped deck of the Hornet, finally taking off in the middle of a gale. Talk about a Wing and a Prayer...Afterwards there is the description of what happened to the various crews, their trials and tribs as they sought to avoid capture by the Japanese. The ordeal gone through by the author, who had severe facial injuries and who lost a leg through infection and subsequent amputation, is described in unsparing detail. The courage of people in situations like this never ceases to amaze me.And all this in less than 200 pages. Brilliant.

Well written. Informative and great read.

Fantastic book, liked everything. It should be recommended reading in schools as an example of courage and dedication-qualities in short supply nowadays.

Siempre me ha gustado todo lo relacionado con la Segunda Guerra Mundial, por eso elegí este libro, que trata de uno de los ataques aéreos más audaces de toda la guerra

je le lis actuellement ok