On 18 April 1942, sixteen U.S. Army B-25B bombers were launched without fighter escort from the aircraft carrier the USS Hornet. The mission was the first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands after the Pearl Harbor attack and was meant to improve a faltering American moral after the attack. The crews of these aircraft launched knowing they would probably not be able to reach a safe landing strip. Of the 80 that left the Hornet, only 69 survived. The significance of the raid caused Japan to recall their aircraft carrier's to defend their Home Islands, and contributed to the Japanese decision to attack Midway, which turned into a decisive strategic defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Today only 4 remain, and only Lt Col James Doolittle received the Medal of Honor.
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