James H. Doolittle

James H. Doolittle (1896-1993), American aviator and army officer, who led the first U.S. air raid on Japan during World War II. Born in Alameda, California, Doolittle served in World War I as a gunnery and flight instructor. After the war he was chief of experimental flying for the U.S. Army Air Corps, and in 1922 he became the first pilot to fly across the U.S. in less than a day. During the 1930s he managed the aviation department of the Shell Oil Company. On April 18, 1942, in the early stages of World War II, Doolittle led his celebrated bombing attack on Tokyo, for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and promoted to the rank of brigadier general. During the same year he was placed in command of the U.S. aviation forces taking part in the invasion of North Africa, and in 1944 he was given command of the Eighth Air Force, stationed then in England and later in Okinawa. He became a lieutenant general in 1944. In 1946 he retired from active military duty and returned to the Shell Oil Co., from which he retired in 1959.