The First Heroes: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid—America's First World War II Victory PDF
Preview The First Heroes: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid—America's First World War II Victory
FIRST HEROES RAIG NELSON aordinary Story Jooliitie Raid as First War Victory II V mmmmmmmm mmmmmnm ifbly detaile iy e Washington Post Book World *^-. "" PENGUIN BOOKS THE FIRST HEROES Craig Nelson is the author of three previous books; his writings have appeared in Salon, Blender, Genre, and a host ofother pubhcations. He was aneditorat HarperCoHins, Hyperion, and Random House foralmost twenty years and has been profiled by Variety, Interview, File, Manhattan, Inc., the DailyNews, Publishers Weekly, and Time Out. He lives in NewYork City. Praise for The First Heroes "A riveting history . . . The author brings a passionately fresh perspective to this amazingstory. ... Agrippingdrama ofWWII, retoldwith such freshness that it's nearly impossible—to put down." KirkusReviews (starred review) "The Doolittle Raid was Franklin Roosevelt's answer to Pearl Harbor. The gutsy mission shocked theJapanese, electrifiedAmerica, and determined the shape and tenor ofthe entire Pacific War. Ifyou want to read one book to understand how a humbled America rose to defeat mighty Japan, you hold that book in your hands. Read about the original 'Mission Impossible' of World War II. Read about the boys who flew offinto history, believing they would never come back. Read about the boys who were the first heroes." — ^James Bradley, author oiFlags ofOurFathers ''TheFirstHeroesis epic in sweep. Thestoryofthe Doolittle Raid lifts offthe page, as rich and engrossing as any legend, and Craig Nelson proceeds to brin—g to vivid life the dramatic story behind the story. This is an astounding feat the hours breathe with even the tiniest gesture ofyoung men desper- ately fighting to stay alive against the panorama ofmodern war and a turbu- lent century in the making—. Nelson is an amazingstoryteller. Doug Stanton, authorof/« Harm's Way "In this passionate and intimate history, CraigNelson reminds us that Amer- ica's first response to Pearl Harbor was neither tepid nor undramatic, but rather one ofwarfare's boldest chapters ofrighteous revenge. — Hampton Sides, author ofGhostSoldiers "Awe-inspiring Nelson paints a shocking portrait not only ofwhat hap- . . . pened to American POWs at the hands of the notorious Kempeitai (the Japanese Gestapo) but also ofJapanese reprisals against Chinese accused of aidingtheAmericans in t—heir escape." The Washington Post "I vividly remember as a boy, in the demoralizing months following Pearl Harbor, the disbeliefand elation that greeted news that American bombers had actuallystruckTokyo! Now CraigNelson has given us everydetail, every secret, everystory behind this raid, which first taught an insecure nation that we could hit this enemy and, in time, defeat him." — ^Joseph E. Persico, author oiRoosevelt'sSecretWar "[Nelson] digs deeply infiising the account with infectious enthusiasm . . . and numerous engaging first-person accounts. An involving account ofa . . . lesser-known period ofth—ewar." Publishers Weekly "Craig Nelson has produced a book that is, quite simply, unforgettable. The First Heroes lives and mo—ves with staggering power and vitality. I never wanted it to end." Leon Bing, author ofDo orDie "77?^FirstHeroesis the best kind ofhistory: important, thoughtful, andwon- derfullygripping. Craig Nelson has done a splendid job ofmakingAmerica's firstvictoryinWorldWar—II seemsovital, so relevant, that readingitfeels like living it." Susan Isaacs, author of Long Time No See and CompromisingPositions "Fascinating, enormously broad, richly detailed. Wonderful, important . . . reading for thosewho kno—wa lot or nothingabout the Doolittle Raid." Star Tribune (Minneapolis) "Nelson doe—s a tremendous job ofdescribing the attack from a variety of perspectives thatofaircrews, theNavy, theJapaneseon theground and the officerswithin the Imperial military. TheFirstHeroesprovides thekindof . . . wider view that is impossi—ble to composewithout the passage oftime." St. PetersburgTimes "Nelson ablypicksout the threads oftheoperation, from trainingto recovery oftheflyers. . . . This boo—kwill find a placein everysubstantialWorldWarII collection," LibraryJournal — m FIRS! HEROES ooooooo The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid America's First World War II Victory CRAIG NELSON PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS PublishedbythePenguinGroup PenguinGroup (USA) Inc.,375 HudsonStreet,NewYork, NewYork 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, LondonWC2RORL, England Penguin BooksAustraliaLtd, 250CamberwellRoad, Camberwell,Victoria3124,Australia Penguin BooksCanada Ltd, 10AlcornAvenue,Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM4V3B2 Penguin Books India(P) Ltd, 11 CommunityCentre, Panchsheel Park, NewDelhi-110017, India Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, CnrRosedaleandAirborneRoads, Albany,Auckland, NewZealand Penguin Books (SouthAfrica) (Pty) Ltd, 24 SturdeeAvenue, Rosebank,Johannesburg2196, SouthAfrica Penguin BooksLtd, RegisteredOflfices: 80Strand, LondonWC2RORL, England FirstpublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyVikingPenguin, amemberofPenguin Putnam Inc. 2002 Published in Penguin Books2003 987654321 10 Copyright©TheCraigNelsonCompany, Inc., 2002 All rightsreserved MapbyMarkStein Studio Page416constitutesan extension otthiscopyrightpage. Illustration insertcredits: BobBell: page2, top. DickKnobloch: page5,top;page 10, top. Bill Birch: page 10, center, bottom; page 11, top left, top right, center, bottom. USS Arizona Memorial:page 15,topright.BillAldrich([email protected]):page 16.Allotherscourtesyof theNationalArchivesandRecordsAdministration,CollegePark,Maryland. ISBN0-670-03087-2 (he.) ISBNO 14 20.0341 7 (pbk.) CIPdataavailable Printed in theUnitedStatesofAmerica SetinAdobeGaramond DesignedbyNancyResnick MapbyMarkSteinStudios Except in the United States ofAmerica, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, bywayoftradeorotherwise, belent, re-sold, hiredout, orotherwisecirculated without the publisher's prior consent in any form ofbinding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. The scanning, uploading and distribution ofthis book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission ofthe publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchaseonlyauthorizedelectroniceditions,anddo notparticipateinorencourageelec- tronic piracyofcopyrighted materials. Yoursupport oftheauthor's rights isappreciated. For Mrs. Arlene B. "Tomi" Nelson, Sgt. William D. "Bill" Nelson, and Lt. Col. M. Thomas "Tom" Nelson "Offwe go, into the wild blue ." . . CONTENTS HistoryRunsAway . . . KOREA Seoul f YeHow ^ CHINA i Seao __ Tokyo ^ Shangh ^Kyushu £^,, Chungking * _Equator ^ "^ o Timor ^''''/«ra Sea INDIAN OCEAN Timor Sea
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