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Against All Odds:
B-25 Bombers Strike Japan in 1942 Late in March, 22 B-25s
and their crews flew from Eglin to
McClellen Field near Sacramento, California. After final maintenance,
they continued on to Alameda Naval Air Station near Oakland,
California. There, cranes hoisted 16 of the planes aboard the carrier Hornet.
On
the afternoon of April 2, with the dark-green
bombers lashed onto its flight deck, the aircraft carrier,
escorted by
two cruisers, four destroyers, and an oiler, sailed into the
Pacific.
The Hornet had just cleared the Golden Gate Bridge when
the
bosun's whistle sounded, and Captain Mitscher announced over the public
address system that "the target of this task force is Tokyo!"
The ship's crew broke out in cheers.
On April 18 at 8 a.m. Halsey flashed the "go" signal to the Hornet: "launch planes x to colonel doolittle and gallant command x good luck and god bless you." See Story at"AGAINST ALL ODDS": Yes, these were carried by the
Airplanes
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