B-25 Gunship - A Tank Gun in the Sky

Days after the Japanese conducted a surprise attack against US forces in Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt held an urgent meeting with Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss American military response to their enemy in the Pacific. The President, visibly preoccupied about American morale after the treacherous Japanese carrier airstrike, told his senior officers that mainland Japan had to be bombed as soon as possible. This, he thought, would boost the country’s morale, increase voluntary enlistments and fortify war bonds. The result of his order was the Doolittle Raid, under the command of renowned aviator and engineer, James H. Doolittle, whom in his autobiography later wrote (QUOTE):