[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 50 (Friday, April 6, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S3698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING THE DOOLITTLE RAIDERS

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the Doolittle 
Raiders on the 60th anniversary of their memorable flights.
  The surprise Japanese raid of Pearl Harbor was just the beginning of 
a series of bad news for Americans at the beginning of World War II. In 
a period of months, the Japanese had invaded and conquered land 
stretching from Burma to Polynesia. The United States badly needed a 
boost in morale. The answer was the Doolittle Raid.
  The concept was simple: A Navy task force would take 15 B-25s to a 
point about 450 miles off of Japan where they would be launched from a 
carrier to attack military targets at low altitude in five major 
Japanese cities, including the capital city of Tokyo. The planes would 
then fly to a base in China where they would join the China-Burma-India 
theater. It was the implementation of the plan that made the men 
involved in the raid heroes.
  On April 18, 1941, sixteen flights of B-25s, one captained by South 
Dakota native son Capt. Donald Smith, left the deck of the U.S.S. 
Hornet, bound for Tokyo. But the Japanese had seen the Americans 
coming, and the planes were forced to take off from the Hornet at least 
650 miles from the Japanese coast. The planes would not have enough 
fuel to make it to China.
  All of the planes made their bombing runs on their respective cities, 
and then turned westward toward China. One crew, with not enough fuel 
to make it to China, landed in Russia and were prisoners of war for 
over a year. Eleven of the other planes that reached China faced 
terrible weather and empty tanks. They proceeded inland on instruments 
and bailed out once their fuel tanks reached zero. The remaining four 
pilots crash-landed their aircraft. Chinese aided the Americans in 
reaching their base, and more than a quarter-million of the Chinese 
were subsequently killed by the Japanese for their suspected help. 
Sixty-four of the ``Raiders'' eventually made it to the base in China. 
Others were captured and tortured, or died while ejecting their planes.
  The Doolittle mission was the first good news from the Pacific front, 
and was a huge boost to American morale. It also devastated the 
Japanese people, who had been told by their leaders that their homeland 
could never be attacked.
  In Belle Fourche, SD, on April 18, South Dakotans will be remembering 
the 60th anniversary of this daring raid. I commend the Doolittle 
Raiders, and all American veterans, for they are truly America's 
heroes. Our country must honor its commitments to veterans, not only 
because it is the right thing to do, but because it is the smart thing 
to do.
  I will continue to lead efforts to ensure that our nation's military 
retirees and veterans receive the benefits they were promised years 
ago. While I am pleased with some improvements in military health care 
funding passed into law last year, I am concerned that more needs to be 
done. Assuredly, I will continue to fight for military retirees and 
veterans programs throughout this session of Congress.

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