Timely Help, Timeless Legacy –the Doolittle Raid
“How brave the pilot is to risk his life to throw a bomb on Japan, and what a selfless man the villager is that he helps the American pilot even though he knows he would be retaliated on by Japanese.” I wondered standing before a giant oil painting in the Museum of U.S. and China Joined Hands during Anti-Japanese War in Jiangshan, which is my hometown. And that made me lost in the thought of the past.
Doolittle Raid is considered one of the greatest military operations in the 20th century since it successfully bombed the aggressive Japan Empire which insisted that its mainland was unlikely to be attacked. The program was launched in order to avenge the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. After rigorous preparations 16 comprehensively-modified land-based B-25 carrying 80 well-trained crew took off from the aircraft carrier Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean on April 18th 1942. These brave pilots bombed arsenals together with some industrial targets in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and several other major cities. After throwing the bombs one bomber went to Vladivostok while the others headed east to China, with a plan to land at Chuchow airport, Zhejiang. But the Chinese government got no message that the crafts took off ahead of the schedule. So most of these crafts crashed in Zhejiang and the provinces nearby and the crew parachuted, due to lack of radio guidance and fuel shortage. The region where they landed was the frontline of the war, which meant the pilots got themselves in quite a critical situation. Luckily the selfless and virtuous local people came to their rescue. They offered the pilots food, shelter, medical aid, and helped them to find the authority, Aware that the Japanese might revenge, they never quavered. The oil painting, which I mentioned at the beginning, actually described the scene of Ozark, the navigator of No.3 aircrew, being rescued by a village chief named Liaoshiyuan. Sixty-four of these pilots were escorted to Chongqing safely—they couldn’t have without the generous help of these villagers.
A great event usually has great influences, so does Doolittle Raid. Its impact on the globe has never worn off.
First, it made a great contribution to the Anti-Japanese War which was a crucial part of WW-II. The raid was definitely a Brexit-shock to the whole world at the time. Then Japan held total supremacy in east Asia and the West Pacific. They would never have believed that their mainland could be under attack for the first time in their history. This was a great blow to Japanese morale, but a great boost to Chinese morale. It timely elevated Chinese people in 1942, the toughest year during the entire Anti- Japanese War, showing them the bright prospect of winning the war, reminding them that they were part of a war for justice, that they were not fighting alone.
Second, the raid plays a significant role in Sino-US relationship. Nowadays, Sino-US relation is without doubt, one of the most important bilateral relations. As an established power and a rising power, there are plenty of disagreements or even conflicts between the two countries owing to their different interests. In this case Doolittle Raid is even more important as it reminds people of the days when we were brothers in arms. It can even cool down confrontation situations. My opinion can be proved by its being mentioned in multiple diplomatic occasions. For example, president Obama said in his visit to China in 2009, “For instance, Americans will never forget the hospitality shown to our pilots who were shot down over your soil during World War II, and cared for by Chinese civilians who risked all that they had by doing so.” And the Raid is playing its role beyond official diplomatic arenas because it happened non-governmentally--- the residents were not officially instructed to help the American pilots. Normally the relationship built by politicians in political ways wears off with the stepping down of one leader or one government. But the relationship built by people can endure because people are the creator of the history and they shall never die.
Actually, I, myself, is a witness and beneficiary of the nongovernmental Sino-U.S. communication because of Doolittle Raid. When I was four a delegation from our sister city Red Wing visited chuchow, including Romeo, the former mayor of Red Wing, who bridged the friendship between the two cities in his term. I had a meeting with him and knew about the Doolittle Raid and the legacy it left us— the sistercity-ship between us-- for the first time with the help of my mother, an English teacher. Later he revisited chuchow twice more including once visiting my grandparents’ home and celebrating Maci Festival (a local food festival in Jiangshan) with us. Every time he visited chuchow he would talk a lot about Sino-U.S. friendship with us. We took a photo together each time and now I collect the photos carefully because they can serve as tokens of friendship between the two families. Once he joked with his fellow delegates that he was taking photos with his Chinese “daughter” and “grandson”. Isn’t that the best witness of the two countries’ friendship? And I can’t be more proud to be a part of it. In fact, it is more than me, but countless thousands of people in our school and in our city who have experienced and benefited from Sino-U.S. friendship thanks to the Doolittle Raid. The sistercity-ship wouldn’t have existed without the Raid, which means we wouldn’t have been able to communicate with foreigners, to make friends with American people and develop our mindset of global understanding from so young. It’s Doolittle Raid that has facilitated our communications and built our world view.
Third, it is still and will be a beacon in global community. Today globalization is impacting every corner in the world. And these years we have seen many people resisting it, with populism and nationalism rising again. These people are unwilling to share the world with others, they even plan to curb others through walls, and we have to admit that they are clouding our judgment with demagogy and even worse. In this case, we really should view the Doolittle Raid as a mirror. In the Raid people showed the eagerness for peace and the bravery to fight for it (Americans launched the Raid to resist the invaders and tried their best not to hurt innocent people in Japan), and also the willingness to cooperate with people from other nations and races to accomplish something for the betterment of the whole world, which is a view that is getting forgotten in today’s global community. These people in the Raid are much wiser and greater than those populist fanatics. And today, we, the growing generation in the 21th century, can and should reevaluate the Doolittle Raid. We should not just learn but inherit the great characters from those people in the Raid. We should value the diversity of culture and races and be more tolerant of others, and more than that, be willing to join hands with people from other races. We should appreciate what the ancient Greek storyteller Aesop said:” Together we stand, divided we fall.” and fight together like what we did decades ago.
I have leant from a American documentary that a man can accomplish anything when he’s realized he is a part of something bigger. The same is true of the human community. We can accomplish anything when everyone in the community has realized he or she is a part of something bigger—the betterment of human. And that can be accomplished as long as everyone acknowledges that our similarities far outweigh our differences, that we are all a very member of the global community.
We shall remember the Doolittle Raid forever for its timely contribution and its timeless legacy. But what we need to do is more than bearing it in mind. Recalling the past helps us to better understand the present and value what we have right now. We commemorate the Doolittle Raid today to prevent the world from wars and strengthen our resolve to join hands and make the world better, so that those who sacrificed won’t die for nothing.
高二（2）班 周启充
Class 2 Senior 2 Zhou Qichong