The US Raid That Did Almost NOTHING, and Changed the Entire War

This American air raid barely scratched Japan. It also may have won the war in the Pacific.

April 1942. America is reeling from Pearl Harbor and desperate to strike back. So they try something no one thought possible: launching heavy bombers off an aircraft carrier.

Sixteen B-25s, led by Jimmy Doolittle, take off from the USS Hornet, knowing they don't have the fuel to return. They bomb Tokyo in broad daylight, then fly on toward China, where most of the crews crash-land or bail out in the dark.

The physical damage was tiny. But the psychological blow was enormous. Japan's leaders had promised the homeland could never be touched. Humiliated, they rushed to extend their defenses and attack a tiny American base called Midway.

That overreach walked Japan straight into the ambush that broke its navy. A raid that destroyed almost nothing changed everything.

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