James Harold Doolittle was born in Alameda, California on December 14th, 1896. His parents were Frank Henry Doolittle and Rosa Cerenah Shepard. He grew up in Nome, Alaska and moved to Los Angeles. He attended a Los Angeles school where they went on a field trip to the "1910 Los Angeles Dominguez Airfield". This was a place where air shows were performed in the United States and the world. It drew many famous inventors such as William Boeing and Glenn Curtiss. This is also where Jimmy saw his first airplane. When Doolittle saw the plane, he was deeply intrigued by how it could fly. Little did Jimmy know he would go on to become a United States pilot himself.
Doolittle went on to on to Manual Arts high school (the third school in Los Angeles and the first high school) and after graduating, Doolittle went on to Los Angeles City College and soon gained admission to move on to the University of California. There he studied in the School of Mines where he learned about engineering. Doolittle was absent from the University of California so that he could apply for the Signal Corps Reserve as a flying cadet in October of 1917. During that time, he trained at the School of Military Aeronautics on the University of California's campus. He also did flight training in Rockwell, California. On March 11, 1918, Doolittle received his Military Reserve Aviator Rating which are ratings on Military flight standards. During World War 1, Jimmy stayed in the United States to be a flight instructor at Camp John Aviation Concentration Center or as Jimmy called it, "Camp Dick". On Rockwell Field, Doolittle was a and flight leading instructor. On Kelly Field, Doolittle served with the 104th and the 90th Aero Squadron of the first surveillance group. On May 10, 1921, Doolittle was assigned to be an engineering officer and pilot for a mission consisting of a plane lost in Mexico. On May 3,1921, Doolittle found the plane and thought it could be repaired. Doolittle used a message bird to request a new engine and received it. He returned the plane and all was well. In the period between WW2 and WW1, Doolittle's reputation as a pilot increased dramatically. In this time period, Doolittle was part of one of the earliest trans cross-country flights in September 1922. The flight was from Pablo Beach (now Jacksonville Beach), Florida to Rockwell Field, California. The flight was 21 hours and had only one stop in between for fuel. After completing this flight, Doolittle received the Distinguished Flight Cross for the flight. Doolittle entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he conducted acceleration tests for various aircrafts. He received his M.S. (Master of Science) for Aeronautic work in June 1924. Doolittle also won many races in this period as well. On January 2, 1942, Doolittle was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. In honor of this, Doolittle was sent to U.S. Army and Air Forces Headquarters to plan what is to be called the Doolittle Raid. On April 18, 1942, Doolittle's attack on the Japanese commenced. The attack was successful, but when the attack ended, the weather was stormy. Doolittle could not see where to go and he and his crew had to land behind Japanese lines. He linked up with his crew and were helped through Japanese lines by John Birch, an American missionary. Although most of the crew was alright, four crew members died from being captured by the Japanese. The Doolittle raid is seen as “moral-building victory for the United States” by historians. Jimmy Doolittle married Josephine “Joe” Daniels on September 24 1917. They had two sons, James Jr. and John Doolittle. James Doolittle flew an A-26 in WW2 and committed suicide at thirty-eight. John Jr. was a Major and Commander of the 524th FIghter-Bomb Squadron flying a F-101 Voodoo in the Air Force. Jimmy and Josephine were married for over 70 years until Josephine Doolittle died in 1988 five years before her husband James Harold Doolittle did. Jimmy died at the age of 96 in Pebble Beach, California on September 27, 1993. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia close to Washington D.C., right beside his wife. In honor of Jimmy, there was a flyover of a B-25 Mitchell and USAF Eighth Air Force bombers from Louisiana. Doolittle’s grandson, James H. Doolittle 3 who was the vice-commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center in California, played Taps at Jimmy’s funeral flawlessly. Doolittle was awarded the Medal of Honor for putting together the Doolittle Raid and successfully completing it. |