Doolittle Raid

Apparently, after this, when the Chinese came across Americans who had escaped from the Japanese, they called them Doolittles.

The raid showed that it could be done - launching bombers from a carrier and successfully attacking the Japanese capital. But, it was a one-way trip with a high cost:
"Of the 16 B-25s, 15 crashed in occupied China, where the Japanese inflicted brutal reprisals against the Chinese populace who had sheltered the American airmen. The Japanese also managed to capture the survivors of two crews, later executing three of them. One B-25 landed intact at Vladivostok, where the Soviets interned the aircraft and its crew."

The men who comprised the majority of the flight crews were from the 17th Bombardment Group stationed in Pendleton, Oregon. All of the men who flew this mission knew the odds, and still went. Heroes all.