EXPLORATIONS, a program in Special English on the Voiceof America.

Today Shirley Griffith and Frank Oliver tell about afamous World War Two pilot, Jimmy Doolittle.

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VOICE ONE:

Jimmy Doolittle

Atone time, he held the record for flying faster thanany other person. He wasthe first pilot to cross the United States in less than twenty-fourhours. He was the first pilot to fly "blind," that is, using onlyinstruments toguide his airplane. And, when his country entered World War Two, he ledoneof the first successful attacks against the enemy.

VOICE TWO:

His name was James Harold Doolittle. But to the many thousands of Americans, he was Jimmy -- Jimmy Doolittle.

JimmyDoolittle was born on December fourteenth, eighteen ninety-six, in thewestern state ofCalifornia. His family soon moved to Nome, Alaska. Jimmy was a smallboy. He never grew to be very big. Yet larger boys made a mistake ifthey thought being small also meant being weak. Jimmy would fight ifsomeone tried to hurt him. And he almost never lost.

VOICE ONE:

Asa young man he became a boxing champion. He held the American WestCoast championship for his weight. He continued to box when he enteredthe University of California to study mineral engineering. Heheld both the lightweight and middleweight college boxing championships.

VOICE TWO:

Whenthe United States entered World War One, young Jimmy Doolittle joinedthe Army. He also asked to be trained as a pilot. On Marcheighteenth, nineteen eighteen, Jimmy passed the tests and graduatedfrom flight school. He had hoped to go to France and fight in the war.The army, however, had him train other pilots.When the war ended, Jimmy chose to stay in the army. He thoughtthis would give him a chance to combine his flying skills and hisinterest in engineering.

VOICE ONE:

For most of the years between World War One and World WarTwo, Jimmy Doolittle was involved in the growth of theairplane industry. Hehelped test new airplanes. He flewlonger and longer distances.He also entered the world-famous air races of the time. Duringthe nineteen twenties and thirties, airplane races were used to test new aircraft designs.

Jimmy Doolittle won three of the most important races,the Schneider Marine Cup, the Bendix Trophy race and theThompson Trophy race. Bynow, most Americans knew the name Jimmy Doolittle.

VOICE TWO:

PerhapsJimmy's most important work during this periodinvolved instrument flying.In the early years of aviation it was almost impossible to fly in badweather. Many pilots crashed in poor conditions because they becamelost. In a heavy fog, they could not tell if they were going right,left, up or down. Many pilots and aviation experts said the problemcould not besolved. They said it was impossible to fly in bad weather.

Jimmy Doolittle began working with experts who madeflight instruments.These instruments helped tell if the aircraft was going up, going down or turning. The instruments helped a pilot fly straight.Other instruments linked radios to a direction device to help find the landing area.

VOICE ONE:

Afterten months of tests, Jimmy Doolittle became thefirst pilot to fly successfully in poor weather conditions. It wasSeptember twenty-fourth, nineteen twenty-nine. It was impossible to seebecause it was so foggy.He took his airplane off the ground, flew for ten minutes, and thenreturned to land safely.

Jimmy Doolittle's test flight had shown that instrumentscould help pilots fly.He proved that flying could be safe in almost any kind of weather.

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VOICE TWO:

OnDecember seventh, nineteen forty-one, Japan attackedthe United States Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was thebeginning of World War Two for the United States. In the next severalmonths, the Japanese won victory after victory inAsia. Many people began to believe the Japanese could not bestopped. Many Americans believed the West Coast of the UnitedStates was in extreme danger.

VOICE ONE:

President Roosevelt asked American military leaders toattack Japan as soon as possible. He said the American public needed a victory, even a small one, against Japan.

This would be extremely difficult. Japan controlled the Western Pacific area. Anyattack would have to begin deep in Japanese-controlled territory. The only possible way to attackJapan was to fly large, two-engine bombing planes from a Navycarrier ship. It had never been done.American military leaders began looking for someone to lead the attack. They chose Jimmy Doolittle.

VOICE TWO:

Bombers on the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet

Theattack plan was a carefully guarded secret. The airplane crews did notknow anything about it. They were only told the flight would beextremely dangerous. The sixteen airplanes and their crews were placedon the aircraft carrier Hornetnear San Francisco. JimmyDoolittle told his crews where they were going only after the carrierwas at sea.

VOICE ONE:

Theplan was simple.The carrier would sail to within six hundred fifty kilometers of theJapanese coast. The planes would take off from the carrier, bomb Japanat night, andland in China in the morning.

Butproblems sometimes develop, with even the best madeplans. At seven-thirty on the morning of April eighteenth, nineteenforty-two, Japanese patrol boats saw the carrier. It was still onethousand fifty kilometers from the Japanesecoast.

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VOICE TWO:

A B-25 bomber takes off from the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet to raid Japan

As everyone watched, Jimmy Doolittle flew the firstaircraft off the carrier deck.The winds were strong. The shipwas moving up and down in the high waves. But he made it look easy.

The others followed.The carrier turned around and sped back toward the United States. Jimmy Doolittle and his air crews were alone.

VOICE ONE:

Jimmy Doolittle led the way to Japan. Each of the sixteen planes had different targets.Most of them bombed targets in Tokyo. Others hit targets in Yokohama and Nagoya. All the aircraft safely left Japan.One landed in the Soviet Union.Fifteen others tried to reach the air fields in China. None did.The distance was too great.All the planes ran out of fuel.Most of the crews were forced to jump from their planes usingparachutes. Most of the men returned home safely. Eight were captured.

VOICE TWO:

The bombing by Jimmy Doolittle and his air crews did verylittle real damage to Japan.However, it did damage the Japanese government. Warleaders had told the Japanese people their country never could be attacked. Jimmy Doolittle proved them wrong. Troops andairplanes were called home to protect Japan.

At home in the United States, the Doolittle raid caused agreat deal of joy. Itwas the first victory against the enemy.The newspapers praised Jimmy and his air crews as heroes.

VOICE ONE:

President Roosevelt awarded Jimmy Doolittle the Medal ofHonor, America's highest military award. He was promoted to general. He went on to command huge numbers of fighters andbombers during the war, often flying deep into enemy territory.

Jimmy Doolittle in 1986

Innineteen eighty-nine, President Ronald Reaganpresented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jimmy Doolittle. Theaward honored his work in aviation and his service to his country.

VOICE TWO:

On September twenty-seventh, nineteen ninety-three,scientist, racing pilot, aviation pioneer and military leader Jimmy Doolittle died.He was ninety-six.

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ANNOUNCER:

This Special English program was written, produced anddirected by Paul Thompson.Your narrators were Shirley Griffith and Frank Oliver. This isRay Freeman. Join us again next week atthis time for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice ofAmerica.