Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="TheNickelGuy, post: 8190092, member: 20201"]2014 Doolittle Tokyo RaidersBronze US Mint Medal [ATTACH=full]1433700[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1433701[/ATTACH]  This 1.5 inch heavy bronze medal is a duplicate of the Congressional Gold Medal honoring the volunteers of the 17th Bombardment Group, led by Lt. Col. James Doolittle during World War II, who made the first strike against Japan on April 18, 1942.The top–secret mission called for the raiders to take off from the deck of the USS Hornet (CV–8) in 16 B–25 bombers. From 450 miles outside of Japan, bomb select Japanese targets and then fly to safety in unoccupied areas of China. The operation was risky, as medium bombers had never before flown from a carrier, and sailing so far into enemy territory was dangerous. The wing tips had a clearance of only 4 feet from the "island" of the flight deck and they had only a 400 foot runway. Each of the sixteen B25 bombers had five member crews. Each had specific targets, bombing oil storage facilities, factory areas and military installations.Dwindling fuel supplies, however, prevented the crews from reaching the designated friendly airfields, forcing them to ditch their aircrafts at sea, bail out or crash–land in China. One crew flew to the Soviet Union, where its members were held as prisoners.Others were captured by Japanese occupied territory and executed.In all of the 80 members of the raid 69 survived.Thanks to the heroic efforts of the Chinese, most of the Doolittle Raiders evaded capture. The obverse design features the North American B–25B Mitchell launching off the USS Hornet (CV–8), 16 stars representing the 16 flight crews that made up the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders. The reverse design features B-25B Mitchell aircraft approaching their target with four patches representing the four squadrons (34thM, 37th, 89th, and 95th) that make up the 17th Bombardment Group. [ATTACH=full]1433702[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]

Log in or Sign up

Reply to Thread

Useful Searches