 24 hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt addressed the nation. I asked that Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire. General Douglas MacArthur, head of the Army Forces in the Far East, was faced with furious aerial attacks on the Philippines. The Japanese bombed the islands heavily and destroyed half the total American bombing force and over half the fighter force in the Philippines. The remaining American aircraft fought back against overwhelming odds, but the Japanese drove the Americans out of the Philippines. In China, at Kunming, Claire Chennault had 84 pilots in the American volunteer group that later became known popularly as the Flying Tigers. Their mission? To engage and destroy Japanese aircraft. The Japanese, based at Hanoi, 350 miles away, headed for Kunming on December 20 to attack the untried American fliers. The Flying Tigers met the Imperial Japanese Air Force, which was then victoriously sweeping Pacific skies. The Japanese were defeated and 60% of their force was destroyed. Four months later, another group of volunteers, flying B-25s and led by Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, took off from the aircraft carrier Hornet to strike Tokyo from the sea. Factories in Tokyo were turning out munitions tagged for Corregidor, Midway and Dutch Harbor. One after another, the American bombers checked off their targets. Tank factories, shipyards, docks, railroad yards, steel plants, gunpowder factories. The raid was an omen of the eventual destruction to be heaped on Japan from the air. In the spring of 1942, the Axis powers were winning the war. The Allies faced their gravest crisis as Nazi and Japanese officers met in Germany to plan a victorious meeting of their armies in Asia. In those bleak days of 1942, German forces pushed toward Japan. Relentlessly, the Axis pincers threatened to close in Central Asia. By May 15th, the Navy had intercepted communications that detailed a Japanese plan to invade Midway and points in the illusions. The Army and Navy decided to attempt an intercept of the Japanese Navy at Midway. The Japanese fleet, more than 80 warships advanced, some steaming north toward Alaska, the main body converging on Midway. Navy, Marine and Army Air Force fighters and bombers were on constant alert. The battle took place between the 3rd and 5th of June. U.S. Navy aircraft attacked from 3600 feet and went down and scraped the depths. One by one, the Japanese ships caught fire. Besides 8 auxiliary vessels, the Japanese lost 4 carriers, 2 heavy cruisers and 3 destroyers, along with 275 aircraft and 4800 men. Midway was perhaps the most important battle of the Pacific Naval War. Here, the carrier airplane proved itself an effective defensive weapon against attacking surface forces. In April through June of 1942, men of the 8th Air Force, 10,000 strong, left for England on the Queen Elizabeth. The 8th Air Force was preparing for daylight precision bombing, although the British pursued night area bombing, having suffered heavy losses in daylight operations. On the 17th of August, the 8th Bomber Command loaded up for the first U.S. raid from England in U.S. planes in daylight. The target was the marshaling yard near Rouen. Visibility was excellent, something the British didn't get for night bombing. The 12 planes dropped a total of 37,000 pounds of arms with good accuracy. Two of the planes collected flak, but all of them evaded the German fighters and returned to England intact. On the other side of the world, the Japanese drive toward Port Moresby, one of the few bases the Allies still held north of Australia, threatened to push the Allies into the sea. MacArthur ordered troops rushed into battle by air. To support the 10,000 American and Australian troops flown over the mountains, air transports delivered supplies at the rate of over 4 million pounds in 10 weeks. On December 27th, the Japanese attacked. 12 brand new P-38s were dispatched to intercept the invading force of 28 zeros and bombers. When the score was finally added up, the P-38s had claimed 11 Japanese fighters and bombers shot down. The P-38s made a dramatic debut in southwest Pacific operations. At the same time in North Africa, the veteran battle-trained Luftwaffe was confident of easy victory over inexperienced American air units. Luftwaffe pilots attacked Allied supply harbors and airfields. The Allies suffered heavy losses. In February of 1943, Rommel's Africa Corps attacked. After eight days of attack, the Axis Initiative was exhausted. The Allies squeezed the Axis forces into a steadily smaller pocket and the Germans relied on aerial transport planes to bring in supplies and move key personnel back to Sicily. On Palm Sunday, a hundred Nazi armed transports headed back to their Sicilian sanctuary escorted by a group of more than 30 fighters. An Allied force spotted them and a flight of 13 P-40s with RAF Spitfires flying cover dove on the German transports to split them up. When the attack was over, Allied aircraft had destroyed 58 German transports and 18 fighters. This was indicative of the Allied air superiority, which ultimately led to the defeat of Rommel's Africa Corps. In the Far East, on another front, supplies were barely trickling through to General Chinalt's 14th Air Force. The situation called for flying the Humphre, carrying supplies from India over the Himalayas into China. C-46s and 47s carried tons of food and medicine, gasoline and bombs over the highest mountains in the world. On August 17, 1943, the 8th Bomber Command in England prepared 376 B-17s for an attack on two critical targets, the Messerschmitt Factory at Regensburg and the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, both deep in Germany. Destruction of these targets would greatly affect Germany's capacity to wage war. There was no doubt it would bring out a large scale and costly air battle. As soon as the bombers got into formation over Britain, they were picked up by German radar. The Luftwaffe plotted the American course and sent up German fighters to intercept the B-17s. In spite of fierce opposition which destroyed 24 bombers, the 4th Bomb Wing severely damaged the Nazi's Messerschmitt Factory at Regensburg, dropping over 300 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs. The 1st Bomb Wing successfully bombed Schweinfurt and although the Nazis knocked 36 bombers out of the sky, the B-17s never broke formation. The bombers delivered 400 tons of high explosives getting he-hits on the two main ball bearing plants. The Schweinfurt-Regensburg operations were costly to the Allies, but proved to be a severe blow to German war efforts. In the Pacific with Allied forces firmly holding northeast New Guinea and the Solomons, General MacArthur and Admiral Halsey could now threaten Roball, the Japanese main supply center on New Britain Island. The objective was to neutralize planes and anti-aircraft guns, smash the air-dromes around Roball, and destroy the concentration of military shipping in Simpson Harbor. B-25 bombers flying low to avoid detection went in first to hit Japanese airfields. Paving the way for the attack on the harbor, American fighters ran into more than 40 Japanese interceptors. At Roball, American forces bombed 24 ships, strait 17, and destroyed over 100 Japanese aircraft, mostly on the ground. In the space of 12 minutes, a formidable Japanese sea and air armada was attacked and decisively defeated. In England, the 8th Air Force planned for a massive attack on German industry, October 9th, 1943, the Fokker Wolf Aircraft Factory at Marionburg, the Erado Factory at Anklam, shipyards at Danzig, and port facilities at Gdynia. The routes were carefully plotted to minimize flak and fighter interference. The going was rough, but the bombers got through and pounded to Anklam, Gdynia, Danzig, and Berlinburg. Our work in these German war plants came to a sudden and violent stop, or was severely reduced. The 12th Air Force, forged in Africa, tempered in Pantelleria, and bloodied in Sicily, now faced a big test in Italy, which was defended by 24 tough German divisions. The defeat of Germany's forces called for steady ground pressure organized with strong airstrikes. Blocking the way to Rome were mine fields and occupied villages protected by tanks. From mountain to mountain, village to village, the action was bitter. At the battle of the Abbey of Monte Casino, American aircraft bombed the observation post in the heavily fortified town of Casino. To crack the Gustav line, 12th and 15th Air Force bombers delivered a series of blows against rail yards, tracks, trains, and particularly the more than 40,000 bridges in Italy. Within seven weeks, air power choked off the German supply line and the 5th Army cracked the Gustav line. The road to Rome was opened at last, and the eternal city opened its arms.