Lawmakers Seek Congressional Gold Medal for Doolittle Raiders

A bipartisan group of senators and House members has introduced legislation that would award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders of World War II. H.R. 1209 and S. 381, the respective House and Senate bills, would honor these 80 airmen—four of whom are still alive today—for their “outstanding heroism, valor, skill, and service to the United States” in conducting their daring bombing mission against Tokyo on April 18, 1942, less than four months after the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Tenn.) introduced H.R. 1209 last month. As of April 8, the bill had 22 co-sponsors. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) presented S. 381 in late February. It had 11 co-sponsors as of Monday. (For an account of the bombing mission, read Doolittle’s Raid from Air Force Magazine’s archives.)