The Doolittle Raid 1942, America Strikes Back

[FSV1142 Kenny]

The Doolittle Raid 1942, America Strikes Back[/size][/b]

The Doolittle Raid, 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike a Japanese home island (Honshu) during World War II. It demonstrated that Japan itself was vulnerable to Allied air attack and provided an expedient means for U.S. retaliation for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December, 1941. The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle. Doolittle would later recount in his autobiography that the raid was intended to cause the Japanese to doubt their leadership and to raise American morale:

The Japanese had been told they were invulnerable. An attack on the Japanese homeland would cause confusion in the minds of the Japanese people and sow doubt about the reliability of their leaders.

There was a second, equally important, psychological reason for this attack Americans badly needed a morale boost.

Sixteen B-25B Mitchell bombers were launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep within enemy waters. The plan called for them to hit military targets in Japan, and land in China although one B-25 landed in Soviet territory and the crew was interned in the Soviet Union for more than a year. All 16 aircraft were lost and 11 crewmen were either killed or captured. The crews of 14 aircraft, in their entirety returned safely to the United States or to Allied control.


Join me on April 18, 2009 for the reenactment of the The Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942.

There is a scenery download and a aircraft download for this session. So lets start with the scenery first. This scenery inclueds CV-8 USS Hornet and CV-6 USS USS Enterprise (CV-6) and can be downloaded here www.fsvintageair.com/Files/Dollitle.zip



Now the aircraft. Here is a link to download a freeware B-25 www.roychaffin.com/rcs-panels.html. Click on the packages link to the left. Scroll down the page untill you see (RCS B-25 RAF for FS2002 and FS2004 (FREEWARE)..


If you are interested please let me know, by email [e-mail] or you can post your reply here on the forum.

Flight time: 06:00:00 PST / 09:00:00 EST. This flight is a little over 1100 miles, so we will be looking at about 8 hours.
We will be taking off from the USS Hornet and flying west toward the Japanese coast. Once reaching the coast of Japan we will turn south west and head for China landing at Pudong (ZSPD)

Altitude for this flight will be 500 feet until we reach the Japanese Coast then we will climb to 5000 feet for the bomb run.
The Cities that will be bombed are Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka, Nagoya, Kobe and Osaka.

Server info.

Server IP: 75.48.107.97
Host server: FSVintageAIR Session Server.
Team Speak IP: 75.48.107.97
Team Speak Channel: 120.75

Please contact Kenny at [e-mail] for server passwords.

[ashaman]

Forgive me if I say this, but to reenact a bombing is quite a ghastly thing to do.

I'm not going to discuss about the reasons that made the bombing "necessary" at the time, as I wasn't there and then, and I know I can't understand the point of view of the times. I'm talking only about all the people that lost their lives, on the planes and below their bombs... after all, at the time the bombings could hardly claim to be surgical attacks on few selected military installations (and I'm not going to touch the only two "surgical bombings" in August 45, because they were anything but). At the time carpet bombing was the norm, and non military casualties were always a massive "necessary" loss.

I'm not saying you should not do it. I'm simply stating my point of view. No offense meant nor implied.

[birdguy]

I quite agree with you ashaman.

As veteran of both Korea and Vietnam and 26 years of military service I am proud of that service but find no glory in war.

The flightsimming community is an international one. I would not wish to participate in anything that would offend our Japanese friends by re-enacting the Dolittle Raid, or the bombing of Hiroshima, nor would I want to offend our German friends by re-enacting the bombing of Dresden.

I would just ask how any of you would feel if some Muslim flightsimmers wanted to organize a group re-enactment of the 9/11 Twin Towers incident.

Noel

[FSV1142 Kenny]

Thanks for your reply.

Well I would have to agree with you. However we humans tend to be rather forgetful. We just don't seem to learn do we?

I would have to say that the reenactment of the Dolittle raid is my way of remembering and honoring the men and women that gave up all of their tomorrows so that you and I can live as free men, as well a teaching tool for those of us that were not there.

Those the forget history are condemened to repeat it.

[birdguy]

I don't forget, nor does anyone I know.

My country has been in 11 wars since Pearl harbor. And my country has done most of the heavy lifting during those wars, especially after World War II. I fought in two of those wars and my grandson is flighting in this one.

Over 500,000 Americans have lost thier lives in wars since December 7th, 1941. And we are still dying today. How can we forget; and when is it going to stop?

How can I forget when my only fellow travelers in the cargo compartment of a C-130 flight from DaNang to Saigon were stacked on pallets in body bags.

We would like to forget, but we can't. And we don't need reminders.

We don't honor those who have fallen with re-runs of the battles in which they died. We honor them with prayers and by working for peace.

It's been my experience that those who bang the drums and wave the flags and claim to be patriots are those who have never been to war. And I would like to point out that patriotism and militarism are NOT mutually inclusive. They don't necessarily go together.

I aologize for ranting on like this, but war is a hot button issue with me. I've seen it face to face. I've lived with it for 65 years since Pearl harbor. Some of those half million KIAs were friends and relatives

Noel

[FSV1142 Kenny]

Hi birdguy.

birdguy, it's not my intention to offend you or anyone else. I to have loss family in service to this country. My brother Staff Sergeant Ricky G. Fox, was killed in South Korea on August 9, 2007. Rather it's my intention to honor him and folks like you for your service.

[ikkim1985]

kenny//
Hi, I understand you want to honor those whom were killed in action by reenactment.
I know that you do it with good purpose. But I'm with birdguy. Best way to honor them is to pray for them and willing for peace, I think. And I'm sorry to hear about your brother. my best wishes with him.

Noel//
Hello, I agree with you about the point of view about honoring the fallens and veterans.
My grandfather(now passed away) was veteran of Korean war as ROK Sergent, He always taught me the same thing.

As Citizen of South Korea, I want to thank birdguy(Noel) fighting and serving for my country.
You and your colleagues made it possible for us to live in this free world.
And I also want to thank vatckenny and his brother SSgt.Fox for his service for freedom in S.Korea.

[jaymom]

Hi Kenny,
First of all let me say this....I downloaded the carriers and the B-25. Although I cannot make a successful takeoff I did have a good time trying last evening. My B-25 gathered a good deal of salt water. I thank you for bringing this B-25 to my attention for it is very well done and a true joy to fly. Being a 20 year veteran I enjoy the military side of Flight Simulators more so than the civilian. I dont remember now how many hours I flew the Tonkin Gulf in a KC-135A but it was well over 1000. I flew out of U-tapao Thailand on those 12 hour flights. I have every major airfield in Vietnam and Thailand populated with 1960 era aircraft. I also have CFS3 and IL-2 flight sims on my computer and I enjoy them a great deal. I have no intention of removing them. I had 4 brothers in WW2, one with Merrills Mauraders, one was a CB in Hawaii, one on the Saratoga and one on the fields of France. All 4 of them earned the purple heart defending their country. I was the lucky one, I just flew up and down the Tonkin Gulf topping off F-105's and F4's during the Vietnam conflict. Never fired a shot or got fired upon but I set a world record for being scared 6 of those 12 hours. When my son introduced me to FS98 the first thing I did was download and fly the KC-97 and did so for months on end. I relived my experiences of my 20 years in the armed services over and over never tireing of it. I still do to this day and will do so for years to come hopefully. What i really want to say is I love airplanes especially prop driven airplanes. I have never taken flight simulators seriously and never will. Your idea of a Dolittle raid is nothing more than a simulation and nothing more should come of it. If we take all this seriously then we should delete all military aircraft from our computers. What do we need a military fighter, bomber or cargo plane for? They only represent wars of the past. And if we have these planes on our simulator then we obviously havent learned from our past. We are glorifying our past by their very presence's on our computer. It's a $20 simulator for heavens sake. It's not meant to hurt, harm or to glorify wars and to reenact a flight is only natural. Should we reenact any flight that resulted in the death of a human being? Did she find that island? Is she still alive somewhere? No I dont want to take part in the Dolittle raid but I admire your intent. As a retired veteran of this country of ours I have a good memory of what it is like to be scared enough to wet my pants and not realize it until I left the airplane. I dont honor wars and never will but when I shoot down a enemy plane in CFS3 or IL-2 I dont think of killing a fellow human being because I keep in mind that it is only a simulator and honor has nothing to do with it. But I do honor your patriotism Kenny. As I told a young fellow in Flightsim.com just yesterday, enjoy your simulator and stop taking it so seriously.

Harold

[birdguy]

"I flew out of U-tapao Thailand on those 12 hour flights."

I was stationed at Takhli and was the load crew chief for those some of those F-105s you refueled. That was on my second tour to Southeast Asia. I was in Vietnam for my first tour. I never actually fought in Vietnam, being in the Air Force, but spent quit a few nights in bunkers when our bases was being rocketed or mortared. My combat experience all came in Korea when I served in US Marine Corps.

As for combat aircraft in flightsims I enjoy them not for their war potential but for sheer fun of flying them. I love the Section8F F-86s and the MAAM B-25.

I just finished a program for adding late 50's early 60s military aircraft to the military bases that peppered California during the period. They add to the overall environment of the era.

But just as I wouldn't like to see 9/11 recreated as a game neither do I think those whose families were the victims of our bombs, no matter how justified we were in dropping those bombs, would like to see those events turned into a game.

I don't have any of those war games or CFS3. I'm not criticizing those who do, I just have an aversion to mass killing be it real or imaginary.

Noel

[jessri]

I believe that the purpose of this enactment is to honor the flying skills of the pilots and crews of the B25s. If you own the MAAM B25 they have a flight plan reenacting the same raid, but you fly from a carrier in the pacific to SF. As someone who was in Korea on the ground and belonging to many veterans groups I believe in honoring those who gave and gave all, remember the Motto of the Korean War Vets "Freedom is not free. The kids today play computer games that are far more gory bloody than any combat sims I've seen. Memorial
day is every day in my house. Well I stated my two cents worth, regards Jess

[birdguy]

I quite agree that many of the computer games kids play today are far more bloody than many of the flight war games. My grandson had a sniper game before he joined the Navy that graphically blew people up. I thought that was extremely disgusting. That may be one of the reasons so many of our people place so little value on human life anymore.

I also think our veterans should be honored, and until a couple years ago when it just became too physically demanding for me I would participate in the Bataan Death March Memorial at the White sands Missile Range. It's an annual event. www.bataanmarch.com/

To me shooting down planes and bombing villages on a computer monitor alone in your den or office isn't honoring or celebrating veterans. It's entertainment pure and simple. If you like that kind of entertainment that's fine. I have no quarrel with that. I've given you my reasons why it doesn't appeal to me and why I think trying justify the game by saying you are honoring those who fought is silly at best and disingenuos at worst.

Noel

[sunny9850]

first of all I want to thank both sides of this discussion for remembering that while we may not agree with the other point of view, one of the great freedoms people all around the world strive for is just that...the freedom to have an opinion an discuss it without repercussion.

As a friend of the crew of one of a handful of real B-25 crews that participated in Doolittle Reenactments in Hawaii and other locations I can understand the reasons to do this.
Aside from any effect on the war and the people on the ground, this was an extraordinary mission and did require extraordinary amounts of skill and bravery.

FS does provide us with the unique ability to try our own hands at some of histories aviation achievements..even if we were either born too late, or without the "right stuff".

And as such this flight is no different than trying to fly the Wright Flyer further than Orville and Willbur did in 1903, or the Spirit of St.Luis to Paris without cheating in real world conditions.

But it is at least for me different when I factor in the human factor on the ground and in the air that is linked with this particular flight.
And while I don't think the original intent is to glorify the killing of humans....even if only a few visitors from around the world might think that....it's not worth doing in my opinion.

Stefan

[pattersoncr]

Regardless of one's thoughts on war, the Dolittle raid was an amazing piece of airmanship. That alone makes it worth learning more about. As some on this site are fond of pointing out, the best way to learn about avaition (other than real life flying) is to fire up MSFS and fly it yourself.