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ANNOUNCER:
EXPLORATIONS, a program in Special English on the Voice ofAmerica.
Today Shirley Griffith and Frank Oliver tell about a famous WorldWar Two pilot, Jimmy Doolittle.
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VOICE ONE:
He was a scientist, an airplane engineer and a general in theUnited States Army.
At one time, he held the recordfor flying faster than any other person. He was the first pilot tocross the United States in less than twenty-four hours. He was thefirst pilot to fly “blind,” that is, using only instruments to guidehis airplane. And, when his country entered World War Two, he ledone of the first successful attacks against the enemy.
VOICE TWO:
His name was James Harold Doolittle. But to the many thousands ofAmericans, he was Jimmy…Jimmy Doolittle.
Jimmy Doolittle was born on December fourteenth,Eighteen-Ninety-Six, in the western state of California. His familysoon moved to Nome, Alaska. Jimmy was a small boy. He never grew tobe very big. Yet larger boys made a mistake if they thought beingsmall also meant being weak. Jimmy would fight if someone tried tohurt him. And he almost never lost.
VOICE ONE:
As a young man he became a boxing champion. He held the AmericanWest Coast championship for his weight. He continued to box when heentered the University of California to study mineral engineering.He held both the lightweight and middleweight college boxingchampionships.
VOICE TWO:
When the United States entered World War One, young JimmyDoolittle joined the Army. He also asked to be trained as a pilot.On March Eighteenth, Nineteen-Eighteen, Jimmy passed the tests andgraduated from flight school. He had hoped to go to France and fightin the war. The army, however, had him train other pilots. When thewar ended, Jimmy chose to stay in the army. He thought this wouldgive him a chance to combine his flying skills and his interest inengineering.
VOICE ONE:
For most of the years betweenWorld War One and World War Two, Jimmy Doolittle was involved in thegrowth of the airplane industry. He helped test new airplanes. Heflew longer and longer distances. He also entered the world-famousair races of the time. During the Nineteen-Twenties and Thirties,airplane races were used to test new aircraft designs.
Jimmy Doolittle won three of the most important races, theSchneider Marine Cup, the Bendix Trophy race and the Thompson Trophyrace. By now, most Americans knew the name Jimmy Doolittle.
VOICE TWO:
Perhaps Jimmy’s most important work during this period involvedinstrument flying. In the early years of aviation it was almostimpossible to fly in bad weather. Many pilots crashed in poorconditions because they became lost. In a heavy fog, they could nottell if they were going right, left, up or down. Many pilots andaviation experts said the problem could not be solved. They said itwas impossible to fly in bad weather.
Jimmy Doolittle began working with experts who made flightinstruments. These instruments helped tell if the aircraft was goingup, going down or turning. The instruments helped a pilot flystraight. Other instruments linked radios to a direction device tohelp find the landing area.
VOICE ONE:
After ten months of tests, Jimmy Doolittle became the first pilotto fly successfully in poor weather conditions. It was Septembertwenty-fourth, Nineteen-Twenty-Nine. It was impossible to seebecause it was so foggy. He took his airplane off the ground, flewfor ten minutes, and then returned to land safely.
Jimmy Doolittle’s test flight had shown that instruments couldhelp pilots fly. He proved that flying could be safe in almost anykind of weather.
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VOICE TWO:
On December Seventh, Nineteen-Forty-One, Japan attacked theUnited States navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was thebeginning of World War Two for the United States. In the nextseveral months, the Japanese won victory after victory in Asia. Manypeople began to believe the Japanese could not be stopped. ManyAmericans believed the west coast of the United States was inextreme danger.
VOICE ONE:
President Roosevelt asked American military leaders to attackJapan as soon as possible. He said the American public needed avictory, even a small one, against Japan.
This would be extremely difficult. Japan controlled the westernPacific area. Any attack would have to begin deep in Japanese-controlled territory. The only possible way to attack Japan was tofly large, two-engine bombing planes from a Navy carrier ship. Ithad never been done. American military leaders began looking forsomeone to lead the attack. They chose Jimmy Doolittle.
VOICE TWO:
The chosen airplane was called theB-Twenty-Five Mitchell. It carried five men. From the beginning,Jimmy Doolittle knew the airplanes might be able to take off from acarrier. But he knew they could never land there. They were too big.The planes would have to fly from the carrier to Japan and then landin China.
The attack plan was a carefully guarded secret. The airplanecrews did not know anything about it. They were only told the flightwould be extremely dangerous. The sixteen airplanes and their crewswere placed on the aircraft carrier Hornet near San Francisco. JimmyDoolittle told his crews where they were going only after thecarrier was at sea.
VOICE ONE:
The plan was simple. The carrier would sail to withinsix-hundred-fifty kilometers of the Japanese coast. The planes wouldtake off from the carrier, bomb Japan at night, and land in China inthe morning.
But problems sometimes develop, with even the best made plans. Atseven-thirty on the morning of April Eighteenth, Nineteen-Forty-Two,Japanese patrol boats saw the carrier. It was stillone-thousand-fifty kilometers from the Japanese coast.
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VOICE TWO:
The plans changed immediately. Orders were given to launch theplanes. The bombing would be done during the day. The pilots startedthe engines.
As everyone watched, Jimmy Doolittle flew the first aircraft offthe carrier deck. The winds were strong. The ship was moving up anddown in the high waves. But he made it look easy.
The others followed. The carrier turned around and sped backtoward the United States. Jimmy Doolittle and his air crews werealone.
VOICE ONE:
Jimmy Doolittle led the way to Japan. Each of the sixteen planeshad different targets. Most of them bombed targets in Tokyo. Othershit targets in Yokohama and Nagoya. All the aircraft safely leftJapan. One landed in the Soviet Union. Fifteen others tried to reachthe air fields in China. None did. The distance was too great. Allthe planes ran out of fuel. Most of the crews were forced to jumpfrom their planes using parachutes. Most of the men returned homesafely. Eight were captured.
VOICE TWO:
The bombing by Jimmy Doolittle and his air crews did very littlereal damage to Japan. However, it did damage the Japanesegovernment. War leaders had told the Japanese people their countrynever could be attacked. Jimmy Doolittle proved them wrong. Troopsand airplanes were called home to protect Japan.
At home in the United States, the Doolittle raid caused a greatdeal of joy. It was the first victory against the enemy. Thenewspapers praised Jimmy and his air crews as heroes.
VOICE ONE:
President Roosevelt awarded Jimmy Doolittle the Medal of Honor,America’s highest military award. He was promoted to general. Hewent on to command huge numbers of fighters and bombers during thewar, often flying deep into enemy territory.
After the war, Jimmy Doolittle served his country again in manydifferent jobs for both private companies and for the government. Healso worked with many civilian companies as a senior official.
In Nineteen-Eighty-Nine, President Ronald Reagan presented thePresidential Medal of Freedom to Jimmy Doolittle. The award honoredhis 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 Doolittledied. He was ninety-six.
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ANNOUNCER:
This Special English program was written, produced and directedby Paul Thompson. Your narrators were Shirley Griffith and FrankOliver. This is Ray Freeman. Join us again next week at this timefor another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.