USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The raid prompted the Japanese to retain four army fighter groups in Japan during 1942 and 1943, when they were badly needed in the South Pacific. The attack also compelled the Japanese to push beyond their originally planned defensive perimeter, thereby increasing the vulnerability of their supply lines.

Detailed explanation-2: -It served as an initial retaliation for the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, and provided an important boost to American morale. The raid was planned by, led by, and named after Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle (later a Lieutenant General in the US Army Air Forces and the US Air Force Reserve).

Detailed explanation-3: -The Japanese response to the Doolittle Raid was swift and brutal. In a campaign called the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign, 180, 000 troops of the Japanese Army’s China Expeditionary Force set out not only to find the American airmen but also to punish anyone they suspected of aiding them in any way.

Detailed explanation-4: -The raid caused minor damage, but the psychological effect, on both the Americans and the Japanese, was incalculable. Still recovering militarily and emotionally from Pearl Harbor, America had, through a bold stroke by real heroes, brought the war home to Japan.