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Raiders point to leadership's key role in Doolittle Tokyo Raid

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mike Hammond
  • Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  What motivates a person to volunteer for a mission so secret the people executing it aren't even told details until right before it starts? When the call for volunteers came, what makes that person's hand go up in the air, along with their fate?

For at least two of the men assigned to Gen. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold's "Special Mission No. 1," the answer to that question was simple: leadership.

"Me and most of the guys volunteered because it was Jimmy Doolittle asking us to," said retired Lt. Col. Robert Hite after a ceremony here Tuesday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Doolittle Tokyo Raid. Colonel Hite was a co-pilot on the 16th and final B-25 Mitchell bomber to take off from the U.S.S. Hornet's deck the morning of April 18, 1942. "(Doolittle) had a reputation as a legendary flier, and when I heard he was leading the effort, I wanted to go.

"What made him such a great leader was the fact that he had intellect, courage, and personality," said Colonel Hite of then-Lt. Col. Doolittle, who went on to become a four-star general and receive the nation's highest military and civilian honors prior to his death in 1993. "Plus, even though he was a short guy, he was quite a boxer!"

On the now-famous mission, Lt. Col. Doolittle also displayed the courage to lead from the front -- putting his life on the line along with his well-earned reputation.

When it came time to take off for the mission 10 hours ahead of schedule, Colonel Doolittle sat in the first plane. He took the risk first as his B-25 shot down the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet and took flight for Tokyo.

"We were fortunate to have a great leader in Jimmy Doolittle," retired Maj. Thomas Griffin said in an interview at last year's reunion festivities. As a young lieutenant, Major Griffin served as navigator on the "Number 9" crew -- the ninth B-25 to take off that morning.

"He was quite a man," Major Griffin said. "First he convinced us it could be done and then he convinced us in the best way: by flying the first over-loaded airplane off the deck. That's what a great leader does -- he leads."