The Other Doolittle Raid: The Genesis of a World War II Bomber Group

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In 2001, Tombstone Pictures released the movie Pearl Harbor. Following the Japanese attack on the military installations on Oahu, the movie depicts President Franklin D. Roosevelt meeting with his military and civilian advisors. Near the end of the meeting, Roosevelt demands the United States bomb Japan.

Roosevelt’s not-so-innocent request would send a ripple effect throughout the military planning of the United States and Great Britain. Two hundred and twelve men and twenty-three B-24D heavy bombers would form the nucleus of an Army Air Corps unit called the Halverson Provisional Group, or HALPRO for short. Their original mission was to execute Roosevelt’s order.

The men and planes would assemble at the Fort Myers, Florida, Air Base by May 1, 1942. By then, the Doolittle Raiders had already executed their daring raid. But the need to punish Japan continued. By the end of May, they had departed the continental United States, still intent on executing Roosevelt’s directive. But, unknown to them, they were about to enter the political and military vortex that was 1942.