James Harold Doolittle
| Jimmy Doolittle | |
|---|---|
 
James Doolittle at the rank of Lieutenant General
|
|
| Birth name | James Harold Doolittle |
| Nickname(s) | "Jimmy" |
| Born |
December 14, 1896 Alameda, California |
| Died | September 27, 1993 (aged 96) Pebble Beach, California |
| Place of burial | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps United States Army Air Service United States Army Air Corps United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force
|
| Years of service | 1917–1959 |
| Rank |
 General
|
| Commands held |
Twelfth Air Force Fifteenth Air Force Eighth Air Force |
| Battles/wars |
Mexican Border Service
|
| Awards |
Medal of Honor Army Distinguished Service Medal (2) Silver Star Distinguished Flying Cross (3) Air Medal (4) |
| Other work |
Shell Oil, VP, director Space Technology Laboratories, chairman |
Mexican Border Service
World War I (stateside duty)
World War II
James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American aviation pioneer. A Reserve officer in the United States Army Air Corps, Doolittle was recalled to active duty during World War II and awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor and leadership as commander of the Doolittle Raid, a bold long-range retaliatory air raid on the Japanese main islands months after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. He was eventually promoted to lieutenant general and commanded the Twelfth Air Force over North Africa, the Fifteenth Air Force over the Mediterranean, and the Eighth Air Force over Europe.
Doolittle was born in Alameda, California, and spent his youth in Nome, Alaska, where he earned a reputation as a boxer. His parents were Frank Henry Doolittle and Rosa (Rose) Cerenah Shephard. By 1910, Jimmy Doolittle was attending school in Los Angeles. When his school attended the 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field Doolittle saw his first airplane. He attended Los Angeles City College after graduating from Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, and later won admission to the University of California, Berkeley where he studied in The School of Mines. He was a member of Theta Kappa Nu fraternity, which would merge into Lambda Chi Alpha during the latter stages of the Great Depression. Doolittle took a leave of absence in October 1917 to enlist in the Signal Corps Reserve as a flying cadet; he ground trained at the School of Military Aeronautics (an Army school) on the campus of the University of California, and flight-trained at Rockwell Field, California. Doolittle received his Reserve Military Aviator rating and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Signal Officers Reserve Corps of the U.S. Army on March 11, 1918.
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