What is the Doolittle raid?

There was only one Doolittle Raid. Col. Doolittle was selected to lead a flight of medium bombers to attack mainland of Japan. The B-25 light bombers were modified so they could launch from the deck of a US Navy aircraft carrier. This attack was meant to strike at Japan in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor and was intended to bolster the morale of the US troops. The raid was almost sure to fail as the bombers could not return to the ship and could not even land on the ship. They were to continue flying to China and hope that they would land in territory held by the Nationalist Chinese.

Some crews did survive. Some were killed when their planes crashed in the ocean. Others were captured by the Japanese and executed.