Doolittle Raid 79th Anniversary

April 15, 2021

Doolittle Raid 79th Anniversary

The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first air operation to strike the Japanese archipelago. It demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attack, served as retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor, and provided an important boost to American morale. The raid was planned, led by, and named after Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, who later became a General and received the Medal of Honor.

In 2014, AFA officially renamed its headquarters in Arlington, Va., the Jimmy Doolittle Building and in 2020, established the General James Doolittle Leadership Center.