Doolittle On Hand For First Houston-To-Chicago Flight

Hoping to generate interest for its new Bayou City-Windy City connection, Chicago & Southern Airlines announced on June 8, 1946, that none other than famed World War II hero Jimmy Doolittle would be aboard the maiden flight.

Eleven days later, Gen. Doolittle graciously went along for the ride on the highly publicized inaugural voyage of the DC-4. Although the intrepid pilot had become an earthbound oil company executive, he was always willing to aid the cause of aviation.

How to avenge the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was the subject of a secret conference President Franklin Roosevelt held with his top military advisors in January 1942. The Americans decided to spring a surprise of their own by launching a daring daylight raid against the Japanese capital.

Col. James A. Doolittle, a fearless barnstormer, was chosen to lead a squadron of specially modified B-25