Target Tokyo

Japan devastated the United States’ fleet with a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7th, 1941. The Japanese followed up on their Pearl Harbor attack by seizing Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines. The Japanese seemed almost unstoppable while the United States asked itself, “What are we going to do, or what can we do, now?” With direction from President Roosevelt to strike Japan, the United States came up with a plan. On April 18, 1942, sixteen U.S. Army bombers took off from the USS Hornet on a one-way mission to bomb Japan. James Scott explains how this raid was planned and executed in “Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid that Avenged Pearl Harbor.” Equally important, Scott explains the outsized impact of the raid on United States’ morale and Japan’s sense of security.