TARGET TOKYO - The Halsey-Doolittle Raid  by Merrill, James M,

Rand Mcnally & Co. ,, Chicago, 1966, 2nd US printing, hard bound in dust jacket, FINE/FINE CONDITION ( dj price clipped), 6 x 8 1.2, 208 pages, illus., appendice lists all crew members of each plane in the raid ), notes, bibliog., index.---------------------------------------"Stand-by crews shouted, 'you lucky devils!' . . . With fistfulls of money, they ran wildly about offering $150 to change places and make the run to Japan. Copilot Thadd Blanton would always remember that men were willing to pay $150 to die."To the airmen, the raid on Tokyo was their first chance to avenge Pearl Harbor.To the Japanese, it was a humiliation that goaded them to slaughter 250,000 Chinese and brutally torture captured fliers.-------------------------------------------------------------------To Americans at home, it was the first bright ray of victory after more than three months of defeat, disaster, and enemy advances in the Southwest Pacific.Recalling the dark and desperate early days of the war, you will share the sense of urgency and excitement that grows as the fantastic plan for the raid is born and mapped out. Like the personnel of Task Force 16 who looked on, you will find your heart in your throat as the huge Army bombers fight their way into the air from the tiny, heaving flight deck of the U.S.S. Hornet.In TARGET TOKYO, James Merrill for the first time adequately tells the complete story, creating a monument to gallant fighting men that will bring them vividly to mind again in the memories of millions of grateful Americans.