Doolittle: Aerospace Visionary by Dik Alan Daso. Potomac Books, Inc. (http://www.potomacbooksinc.com), 22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, Virginia 20166, 2003, 128 pages, $19.95 (hardcover), $12.95 (softcover).

I picked up Dik Daso’s Doolittle about a year ago because I have two personal connections with the Doolittle Raid—America’s first offensive attack on Japan, which occurred on 18 April 1942, 65 years ago. I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, near the Army airfield where the 17th Bomb Group met prior to volunteering for this top-secret mission (the Columbia Airport has a very nice memorial to the Doolittle Raiders). Presently, I am a historian at Eglin AFB, Florida, where, in March 1942, the Raiders secretly trained and had their aircraft modified for the now-famous raid. After realizing the significance of April 2007, I started to read the book.

James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle is best known as the leader of the raid that struck back at Imperial Japan after the disaster at Pearl Harbor and the loss of Wake Island and the Philippines. The attack gave a “shot in the arm” to American morale, led directly to the resounding US victory at Midway just seven weeks later, and portended the massive strategic-bombing campaign of 1944–45 that would destroy Japan’s war-making capability. Gen Henry “Hap” Arnold, commander of the US Army Air Forces, personally chose Doolittle, a lieutenant colonel at the time, to plan and command this mission—perhaps the most famous individual aerial attack in Air Force history. Unfortunately, many Americans know Doolittle only as the leader of the renowned raid.

Daso goes beyond Doolittle’s fame as the leader of the raid. A retired US Air Force pilot and author of several books about Air Force history, including a recent biography of Hap Arnold, the author reminds us that by 1941 Doolittle was already a well-known civil and military aviator, having won several civil and military aviation awards, including the prestigious Schneider Cup and Mackay Trophy. We also learn that Doolittle pioneered the procedures for instrument flying, demonstrated the importance of high-octane aviation gasoline for better airplane-engine performance, and earned a doctorate in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These achievements alone would have put Doolittle’s name in the annals of American aviation history.

Daso also covers Doolittle’s enviable war record after the raid. Promoted to general officer, he commanded Twelfth Air Force and Northwest African Strategic Air Forces in North Africa in 1942 and Eighth Air Force in England after 1943. As commander of the Eighth, he released P-47 and P-51 fighters from “babysitting” bombers on their missions over Europe so they could attack German fighters wherever they found them. This decision reduced bomber losses, destroyed enemy aircraft (and pilots) in the air and on the ground, and rendered the Luftwaffe incapable of threatening the D-day invasion, the Allied breakout from Normandy, and the advance across France.

The book’s last two chapters well describe the outstanding postwar career of the now very famous general. Doolittle served as an executive with Shell Oil, his prewar civilian employer; Thompson Ramo Wooldridge (TRW); and Mutual of Omaha. He was also president of the newly founded Air Force Association and served on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics as well as other scientific and aviation boards. Daso lets the reader know that Doolittle made many tremendous contributions to American aviation.

I found only two problems with the book. Daso states that the Raiders’ secret training in March 1942 occurred at Eglin’s Auxiliary Field no. 9 (p. 49); in reality, it took place at Auxiliary Field no. 1. Also, he digresses into a discussion of how the Doolittle Raid deviated from the Army Air Forces’ accepted strategic-bombing doctrine (pp. 59–60). The former is a minor error while the latter is unnecessary and distracting in an otherwise well-done, concise biography of a great American civil and military aviator—truly an “aerospace visionary.” Doolittle is great reading for the general reader, scholar, and military/aviation enthusiast.

Dr. Robert B. Kane, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, Retired
Eglin AFB, Florida

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.

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