The Purpose Of The Doolittle Raid

December 7, 1941 was a day that United States will never forget, or as President Roosevelt addressed, “a date which will live in infamy”. It was the day that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, a navy base in Hawaii. Whether the US knew about the surprise attack or not, one thing that is certain is that the U.S. is prepared to declare war against Japan. FDR’s speech not only boosted people’s morale, but even claimed that they will gain the “inevitable triumph”. Unfortunately, the first six months of the way did not go as victorious as they anticipated; they have faced nothing but embarrassing defeats against Japan. All these defeats have lowered the people’s resolve to continue on with the war due to the loss and damage that had been dealt.

was not just going to accept humiliating defeats after defeats. They were not going down without a fight, and when they had a chance to counterattack, they were going to make a huge deal about it, and broadcast it for the audience to know that. On April of 1942, U.S. launched a surprise attack known as the Doolittle raid. The whole purpose of the mission was not only to ambush Japan, but to also boost morale for the people back in the U.S. A feature film was also made based on the event, to help glorify the U.S. efforts in attacking Japan and finally being on the offensive side. The first couple months America has only been on defense as they were trying to defend islands in the Pacific, but after losing multiple battles and soldiers to the efforts, U.S. was finally bombing areas in Japan. As mentioned in a documentary Missions That Changed the War: The Doolittle Raid, it was not an easy mission, in fact it was quite a dangerous mission. They had trained pilots to take off in the middle of the seas just so they can get closer to Japan, at the risk of being spotted by Japanese planes and ships. The audiences watching the film celebrated these pilots as heroes as it made it seem like they did the impossible. Another purpose in glorifying the pilots in the films is because America was at its lowest times during the war, and needed some sort of hope for the war, and that is when the pilots come in. They are perceived as heroes because what they did made it seem like they turned the tides on the war and they have a real chance winning the war. They even made a deal about how heroic they were with the speech one of the commander told to the pilots by offering them to back out on the mission before it is too late. However, none of them backed out, in fact, it showed that the pilots were eager to take on the mission, thus boosting patriotism for the audiences. Although they were bombing a city in Japan, the film made sure to take out any sympathy the U.S. might feel