Sixteen North American B-25s, commanded by Lt. Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, take off from USS Hornet (CV-8) and bomb Tokyo. For planning and successfully carrying out this daring raid, Doolittle is promoted to brigadier general (skipping the grade of colonel) and is awarded the Medal of Honor.
The Air Force pulled a KC-135 out of storage at the “Boneyard” in early April, three weeks after another one of the service’s Stratotankers crashed in Iraq during Operation Epic Fury.