Original Item: Only One Available. This lovely print is of an image that would have been seen while preparing for the infamous Doolittle Raid. The image shows Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle and Capt Marc A. Mitscher while they confer on on the bomber-laden deck of the USS Hornet as the fateful day of April 18, 1942 approaches. This daring bombing raid on Japan gave America the morale boost it badly needed in the wake of the destruction at Pearl Harbor.

This limited edition print was published by the historic Eagle Field Museum as a special commemorative to James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle’s famous Tokyo Raid. In April of 1994, The Eagle Field Museum was extremely proud to host the Doolittle Raiders’ reunion in Fresno, California, and organized the General J.H. Doolittle memorial flight. Built in 1942, Eagle Field is one of the few World War II primary training bases remaining in the Western United States. Much of the proceeds generated by these prints went toward the restoration of this valuable landmark, so that generations to come may be able to enjoy, appreciate and reflect upon the history the site represents. This print is the only one of its type bearing its individual number 985/1500, and has been signed by the artist and members of Doolittle’s Tokyo Raiders. The sole copyright of the original painting is retained by the artist as a guarantee against unauthorized reproduction.

The Signatures Present:
- Major General David M. Jones: David M. Jones served with distinction as a pilot and general officer, first with the U.S. Army Air Corps (he entered pilot training in June 1937) and later with the United States Air Force (created on September 18, 1947). His record during World War II includes being one of the Doolittle Raiders whose exploits in April 1942 were dramatized in the film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. He then flew combat missions over North Africa, where he was shot down. He was a German prisoner of war for two and a half years, helping with the April 1944 mass escape at Stalag Luft III, which was dramatized in the 1963 movie The Great Escape.

In his last assignment with the Air Force, Jones was the commander of the Air Force Eastern Test Range in Cape Kennedy, Florida as well as the Department of Defense Manager for Manned Space Flight Support Operations. He retired from the Air Force in 1973.

- Major Thomas C. Griffin: Thomas Carson Griffin was a United States Army Air Forces navigator who served during World War II. He was one of the eighty Doolittle Raiders who bombed Japan in April 1942. After the Doolittle Raid, he was relocated to North Africa and was shot down during an air raid in 1943, spending time in a prisoner-of-war camp until he was rescued in early 1945.

- Lieutenant Colonel Richard E. Cole: Richard Eugene Cole was a United States Air Force colonel. During World War II, he was one of the airmen who took part in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, Japan, on April 18, 1942. He served as the co-pilot to Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle in the lead airplane of the raid by sixteen B-25 bombers, which for the first time took off from an aircraft carrier on a bombing mission.

Cole remained in China after the raid until June 1943, and served again in the China Burma India Theater from October 1943 until June 1944. He later served as operations advisor to the Venezuelan Air Force from 1959 to 1962. He retired from the Air Force in 1966 and became the last living Doolittle Raider in 2016. Cole died in San Antonio, Texas, on April 9, 2019, at the age of 103. A memorial service for Cole was held at Joint Base San Antonio on April 18, the 77th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid.

- Staff Sergeant David J. Thatcher: David Thatcher was born on July 31, 1921, in Bridger, Montana. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on December 3, 1940, and attended Airplane Mechanics School at Lincoln, Nebraska, from July to December 1941. His first assignment was as a B-25 Mitchell flight engineer with the 95th Bomb Squadron at McChord Field, Washington, from December 1941 until he was selected for the Doolittle Raid in February 1942. Sgt Thatcher was the engineer-gunner on the 7th B-25 to take off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) on April 18, 1942, and after bombing its assigned targets in Tokyo, the crew crash landed off the coast of China. As the only crew member not seriously injured in the crash, Sgt Thatcher was later awarded the Silver Star for taking charge of the group and getting them medical attention. After returning to the United States he served as a B-26 Marauder flight engineer/gunner in England, and participated in combat in North Africa from December 1942 until January 1944. He then returned to the United States and served in stateside assignments in California until receiving an honorable discharge from the Army Air Forces in July 1945. David Thatcher died on June 22, 2016.

- Staff Sergeant Edwin W. Horton: Edwin Horton was born on March 28, 1916, in North Eastham, Massachusetts. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 30, 1935, and served in the Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, from November 1935 until May 1938. Horton next served at Fort McDowell, California, from May 1938 to February 1939, when he was transferred to Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont. He transferred to the Army Air Corps in September 1939, and was trained as an Aerial Gunner, Gun Turret Mechanic, Aircraft Armorer, and Aircraft Mechanic. He served at March Field, California, from September 1939 to February 1940, and then joined the 89th Reconnaissance Squadron, where he served at bases in California, Washington, Oregon, and South Carolina from February 1940 to February 1942, when he was selected to participate in the Doolittle Mission. SSG Edwin Horton was the Gunner on the tenth B-25 to take off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet on April 18, 1942, and after bombing its assigned targets in Japan, the crew bailed out over China when their aircraft ran out of fuel. He joined the 11th Bomb Squadron in China and remained in the theater until May 1943, when he was transferred to the 87th Bomb Squadron, first at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma, and then at Drew Field, Florida. His next assignment was with the 465th Bomb Squadron at Williston, Florida, from November 1943 to March 1944, and then at Kissimmee and Orlando, Florida, from March 1944 to October 1946. Sgt Horton served with the 3200th and 3206th Climatic Test Squadron at Eglin Field (later renamed Eglin AFB), Florida, from October 1946 to July 1953. He served with the 580th Air Resupply Squadron at Wheelus Field, Libya, from July 1953 to June 1955, when he was transferred to U.S. Air Forces in Europe. Sgt Horton's final assignment was back at Eglin AFB, where he served from January 1956 until his retirement from the Air Force on August 6, 1958. Ed Horton died on November 26, 2008.

This is a wonderful framed piece of history, ready for display.

Doolittle Raid
Following the reorganization of the Army Air Corps into the USAAF in June 1941, Doolittle was promoted to lieutenant colonel on January 2, 1942, and assigned to Army Air Forces Headquarters to plan the first retaliatory air raid on the Japanese homeland following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He volunteered for and received General H.H. Arnold's approval to lead the top secret attack of 16 B-25 medium bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, with targets in Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya.
After training at Eglin Field and Wagner Field in northwest Florida, Doolittle, his aircraft, and volunteer flight crews proceeded to McClellan Field, California for aircraft modifications at the Sacramento Air Depot, followed by a short final flight to Naval Air Station Alameda, California for embarkation aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. On April 18, Doolittle and his 16 B-25 crews took off from the Hornet, reached Japan, and bombed their targets. Fifteen of the planes then headed for their recovery airfield in China, while one crew chose to land in Russia due to their bomber's unusually high fuel consumption. As did most of the other crewmen who participated in the one-way mission, Doolittle and his crew bailed out safely over China when their B-25 ran out of fuel. By then, they had been flying for about 12 hours, it was nighttime, the weather was stormy, and Doolittle was unable to locate their landing field. Doolittle came down in a rice paddy (saving a previously injured ankle from breaking) near Chuchow (Quzhou). He and his crew linked up after the bailout and were helped through Japanese lines by Chinese guerrillas and American missionary John Birch. Other aircrews were not so fortunate, although most eventually reached safety with the help of friendly Chinese. Seven crew members lost their lives, four as a result of being captured and murdered by the Japanese and three due to an aircraft crash or while parachuting. Doolittle thought he would be court martialed due to having to launch the raid ahead of schedule after being spotted by a Japanese patrol boat and the loss of all the aircraft.

Doolittle went on to fly more combat missions as commander of the 12th Air Force in North Africa, for which he was awarded four Air Medals. He later commanded the 12th, 15th and 8th Air Forces in Europe. The other surviving members of the Doolittle raid also went on to new assignments.

Doolittle received the Medal of Honor from President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House for planning and leading his raid on Japan. His citation reads: "For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty, involving personal valor and intrepidity at an extreme hazard to life. With the apparent certainty of being forced to land in enemy territory or to perish at sea, Lt. Col. Doolittle personally led a squadron of Army bombers, manned by volunteer crews, in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland." He was also promoted to brigadier general.

The Doolittle Raid is viewed by historians as a major morale-building victory for the United States. Although the damage done to the Japanese war industry was minor, the raid showed the Japanese that their homeland was vulnerable to air attack, and forced them to withdraw several front-line fighter units from Pacific war zones for homeland defense. More significantly, Japanese commanders considered the raid deeply embarrassing, and their attempt to close the perceived gap in their Pacific defense perimeter led directly to the decisive American victory at the Battle of Midway in June 1942.

When asked from where the Tokyo raid was launched, President Roosevelt coyly said its base was Shangri-La, a fictional paradise from the popular novel and film Lost Horizon. In the same vein, the U.S. Navy named one of its Essex-class fleet carriers the USS Shangri-La.