3. James Doolittle considered the raid a failure because he lost all 16 of his planes due to ditching or crash landing. He was sure he'd be court-martialled when he returned. Rather than that, he received the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor.
Five of his men were captured by the Soviets (supposedly allies), but managed to escape in Iran.
Eight were captured by the Japanese. Of those, three were executed and one died of starvation.
The other four were finally freed by US troops in August 1945, including one who is still alive, Lt.Col. Robert Hite
Four are still alive as of this date, but one was too ill to attend the 71st Reunion.
GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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