Description

The Americans would turn the war in the Pacific around in the middle of 1942 but in the wake of Pearl Harbor and the Japanese invasion of the Philippines the country was in desperate need of a morale boost and it would come in the form of the Doolittle Raid In part to show that the Japanese were not invincible and in part to reassure the American public that the nation would not lose the war the Doolittle Raid included both Army and Navy units that launched 16 landbased medium bombers from an aircraft carrier a feat that was the first of its kind but also one involving a great deal of risk Getting the bombers and carriers in place to execute the mission involved much strategic planning and cooperation within the American military and had it failed it could have dealt a serious blow to the Americans Pacific presence due to the nations limited resources in that theater