Doolittle James Harold - Calculated risk: the extraordinary life of Jimmy Doolittle, aviation pioneer and World War II hero ; a memoir

Copyright 2005 by Jonna Doolittle Hoppes

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ISBN-13 978-1-595809-15-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hoppes, Jonna Doolittle, 1950

Calculated risk : the extraordinary life of Jimmy Doolittle, aviation pioneer and World War II hero / by Jonna Doolittle Hoppes.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Doolittle, James Harold, 1896- 2. GeneralsUnited StatesBiography. 3. Air Pilots, MilitaryUnited StatesBiography. 4. United States. Army Air ForcesBiography. 5. AeronauticsUnited StatesHistory20th century. 6. World War, 1939-1945Aerial operations, American. I. Title.

UG626.2.D66H67 2004

629.13092dc22

2004029814

All photographs courtesy of the Doolittle Collection with the exception of: photos 12, 16, 3436, 44, and 50 courtesy of the Carroll V. Glines Collection; photo 56 courtesy of the Robert Hite Collection.

Cover and interior design by Lynda Cool Dog Jakovich.

10 9 8

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CALCULATED Risk is a work of love dedicated to two people who left the world a better place than they found it. It is also a collaborative efforta collection of memories, historical facts and talents. I would like to thank all the people who contributed so much.

My parents, John and Priscilla Doolittle, shared numerous stories that found their way into this project. I know that many of these stories brought back wonderful memories, but others made us sad. I depended heavily on C.V. Glines. He was extremely generous with his knowledge, editing and friendship.

I owe much to Bonnie Hearn Hill for her faith and her rule of twelve. Bonnie, I keep that picture and your words as daily inspiration. Cindy Woods and Jeannie MacNeil spent hours proofing this manuscript. Kevin Eldridge answered endless questions about airplanes and flying. Kevin, I would fly with you anytime!

I greatly appreciate Bob Lindsey for his encouragement and coachingespecially early on through all the frantic phone calls and email. Maryjo Reed, Bill and Judy Nelson and Deborah Barrow Zak stayed the course with their friendship. I think they were almost as excited as I was each step of the way. Thank you Susan Howard for the last minute edit and Jim (Pooh) Partington for the daily quotes. Frequently they inspired stories.

I am indebted to all the people at the Planes of Fame Museumespecially the crew of the Photo Fanny. I should have made Shawna drive the car home!

A special thank you to the Cascade War Birds: Ken and Linda Morley (Ken I really wasnt afraid.), Willie and Mary Paterson, Dave and Shirley Desmond and Betty Sherman for welcoming me into their group and sharing their wonderful airplanes, stories and knowledge. I had an unforgettable time.

I began writing this book in response to the film Pearl Harbor. I particularly appreciated the efforts of Jennifer Klein, Bruce Hendricks and Jerry Bruckheimer for listening to the familys objections and making many of the changes we requested. I very much enjoyed meeting and working with Jennifer.

I am grateful to the members of the Literary Guild of Orange CountyCindy, June, Linda, Marguerite, Phyllis, Teresa, Doreen, Mary, Pam, Joan, and all the wonderful women who spend so much energy promoting emerging authors. I value your friendship and thank you for your support.

I would like to thank publisher Jeffrey Goldman for taking a chance on a first-time author.

And finally, Id like to express my profound gratitude to Stacy and Shawna, my daughters, who contributed their own special talents and to Steve, my husband, who gave me the freedom to follow my dream.

NO history of American aviation could be written without mentioning James Harold Jimmy Doolittle. Born before the Wright brothers made their first flights in a heavier-than-air flying machine, his life paralleled the history of fixed-wing flight and our ventures into space. He was an aerobatic and racing pilot, military aviator, aeronautical engineer, leader of the famed 1942 attack on Japan, commander of the 8th Air Force during the Normandy invasion, leader of the struggle for a separate U.S. Air Force, member of scientific governmental committees, and advisor to presidents.

Jimmy Doolittle was known in aviation circles as the master of the calculated risk because he always carefully considered the risks involved in flying and transferred this attribute to his undertakings on the ground. He felt that luck had been with him all his life and thats why when asked if he would like to live any part of his life over again, he replied, No, because I could never be so lucky again. And he said the luckiest moment in his life was when Josephine Joe Daniels, his high school sweetheart, said she would marry him.

In the following pages, the reader will learn that during their 71 years together Joe also had to take calculated risks being married to a man so active in so many aspects of aviation, industry and government. She shared some of his flying records as a passenger and watched him perform dangerous aerobatics that few other pilots dared to try. As a military leader and business executives wife, she made a home out of each house or apartment they occupied and raised two lively sons who also became military pilots.

Joe Doolittle traveled hundreds of miles during World War II to bolster the morale of service wives and their families and give inspirational talks to employees in war industries. She authored a syndicated newspaper column for wives of servicemen, built a corps of daily listeners for a wartime radio program to give them hope and advice, and gave speeches to help sell war bonds and encourage participation in volunteer activities. She wrote hundreds of notes to my shut-ins when she learned of friends who were ill or had suffered family tragedies.

Her concern for others continued after Jimmy left the military service and their family circle grew. What follows is a granddaughters tribute to her gracious, beloved grandmother who shared her love of life with everyone she met. It is also a review of her famous grandfathers exciting life as a world figure with a reputation for personal daring on one hand and exemplary leadership on the other. It traces his early days in Nome, Alaska, and maverick teenage years without a father to his gradual maturation into an aviator who changed the course of world aviation with his technological breakthroughs in instrument flying and development of more powerful aircraft fuels.