
Eagle Against The Sun – Episode 4: The Giant Awakes
After Japanese forces pushed the Allies from the Philippines, they continued to suffer blows in Bataan and Corregidor. Thousands of Filipino and American soldiers suffered at the hands of the Japanese army, where they were forced to march over 60 miles with little food or water and faced physical abuse. The march was called the Bataan Death March. In a desperate attempt to boost morale, Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle organized a surprise attack on Tokyo, known as the Doolittle Raid. Sixteen B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched without fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean, each with a crew of five men. The plan called for them to bomb military targets in Japan, and to continue westward to land in China—landing a medium bomber on Hornet was impossible. Fifteen aircraft reached China, but all crashed, while one landed at Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. This marked the first strike against the Japanese mainland.