Flowers for Arlington National Cemetery! Do you know what kind of people lived in this area who used to be in the United States?
There are more than 100 national cemeteries throughout the United States. But Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., is the most famous. Arlington National Cemetery is located on the west bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., across the river is the famous Lincoln Memorial. If you look at the cemetery from behind the Lincoln Memorial, the Arlington Bridge in front of you straddles the Potomac River, and on the other side, there is a flat avenue across the bridge to the arlington National Cemetery gate.
Arlington National Cemetery began construction on May 13, 1864, now covers an area of 612 acres (about 2.48 square kilometers), and is currently buried by more than 260,000 people, mainly soldiers who died fighting for the United States, famous American politicians, workers who died in the line of duty, and people who made outstanding contributions to the United States. Among them were the soldiers who died in the U.S. War against Japan during World War II, including the pilot who bombed Tokyo, the pilot who dropped the atomic bomb, and the most famous American hero, the leading figure in the bombing of Tokyo: General James Harold Doolittle.
Bombing of Tokyo – A revenge oath issued by the United States during World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941! After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the morale of the American people fell to its lowest point. In order to arouse public confidence, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an order to all members of the Joint Meeting of Chiefs of Staff on December 21, 1941, that the army should organize a retaliatory strike against Japan as soon as possible, and that the target was The heart of Japan, Tokyo.
When the times create heroes and the country is in danger, history is born as a heroic figure. This time, the United States welcomed its national hero, James Harold Doolittle. A native of California, he was born on December 14, 1896, and died September 27, 1993, at the age of 96. He is a U.S. Air Force general, a distinguished aerobatic pilot, and an aeronautical engineer. In the Second World War between the United States and Japan, he personally planned and led a formation of 16 B-25 bombers, and completed the first air raid on the Japanese mainland, including Tokyo, which is known as the "Doolittle Air Raid". After the air raid on Tokyo, General Doolittle became a national hero for the Americans.
So why did General Doolittle become a national hero in the minds of Americans because of an operation? That has to start with the danger and significance of this operation!
The bombing mission arranged by US President Roosevelt this time was accomplished with great difficulty under the extremely special period of the United States. Although the losses caused by the bombing to Japan were not too large, there was no way to compare them with the subsequent bombings, but it was a great improvement in the morale of the whole United States.
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in the United States, the Americans decided to teach Japan a lesson and sent bombers to bomb Tokyo. Although the United States immediately announced that it would bomb Tokyo in retaliation, the Naval Power of the United States in the Pacific Theater temporarily lagged behind that of Japan. The United States could not afford to lose its main warships such as aircraft carriers again, and could only take a defensive position. In this case, in order to realize President Roosevelt's bombing plan for Tokyo, Japan, the range of American bombers has become the most difficult problem to solve. Judging by the limited range of the B-25 bomber at that time, it was impossible to fly from the Continental United States to Tokyo, Japan.
With no other choice, the U.S. could only decide to bring the B-25 bombers to the only U.S. aircraft carrier. Bombers were used to transport bombers to take off closest to Japan. But one of the thorny problems that must be faced with placing huge bombers on an aircraft carrier is that the length of the deck runway of an aircraft carrier is too short for bombers, and if the bomber can successfully take off on an aircraft carrier, it is necessary to reduce the takeoff weight.
General Doolittle began to do everything he could to reduce the weight of the B-25 bombers while training for 3 months. After rigorous training, the U.S. Navy formally decided to implement an airstrike on Tokyo. The plan was to use 16 B-25 bombers to take off from An American aircraft carrier 900 kilometers from the Japanese mainland and bomb Tokyo, Japan. In order to maximize the preservation of American aircraft carriers, after the aircraft takes off, the aircraft carrier formation will return immediately, and the aircraft will fly over Japan to land in China. This one-way suicide-like bombing mission to Tokyo was led by Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle, an aviation specialist. In order to bomb Tokyo to the maximum extent, General Doolittle repeatedly calculated the range to minimize the fuel load of the aircraft and to leave the maximum take-off weight to the bombs dropped on Tokyo, Japan.
On April 18, 1942, the United States finally began its combat mission against Japan in an air raid on Tokyo as a powerful response to the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. The United States sent an aircraft carrier formation closer to Japan, but the unlucky American fleet was detected by japan in advance due to yamamoto's fifty-six expansion of the cordon. The plane was originally scheduled to take off from an aircraft carrier 880 kilometers from Tokyo and finally land in China, but At that time, General Doolittle's bomber formation was forced to take off 300 kilometers earlier.
According to the statistics of the US bombing of Tokyo, Japan, a total of 16 B-25 bombers dropped a total of about 13.6 tons, but it caused minor damage to some military factories, shipyards, substations and other manufacturing places, and about 50 Japanese civilians died. It can be said that the results are almost insignificant. But the symbolism is enormous, symbolizing America's determination toward Japan. The U.S. raid on Tokyo, Japan, came to be known as "30 seconds over Tokyo," and General Doolittle's bombing campaign dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of Japanese fascism.
After the successful bombing of Tokyo, Japan, General Doolittle and the American pilots who were lucky enough to land in the area controlled by China at that time finally survived, and the pilots came to China and were warmly welcomed by the Chinese soldiers and civilians, not only ensuring their lives, but also helping them to return to the United States smoothly. When he returned to the United States, he was immediately promoted from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general and received the Congressional Medal representing the highest honor in the United States.
Fast forward a few decades, and in 1993, the 96-year-old American national hero, General Doolittle, died in Pablo Beach, California. He was eventually buried in what we call the famous Arlington National Cemetery in the United States. It is worth mentioning that at the funeral of General Doolittle, all the B-25s that could still fly in the United States took off to pay tribute. See this situation, it is definitely a national hero of the United States!
On April 16, 2021, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga laid a wreath at Arlington Cemetery after his talks with President Biden in the United States.
At this moment, the National Hero of the United States, the mastermind and operator of the first U.S. bombing of Tokyo, Japan, is resting in this national cemetery together with other heroes who died fighting against Japanese fascism, accepting the visit of Japan!