Five B-17s of the 93rd Bomb Squadron, 19th Bomb Group, carryout the first heavy bomb mission of World War II, attacking a Japanese convoy near the Philippines and also sinking the first enemy vessel by US aerial combat bombing.
LIVE: Caine Leads Global Toast to the Doolittle Raiders
April 17, 2026
Continuing a 80-year-long Air Force tradition started by Gen. Jimmy Doolittle and his fellow Raiders in 1946, the Air & Space Forces Association, Air Force and Space Force units, and AFA members around the world are raising a glass to the anniversary of the legendary Doolittle Raid.