Thirty Seconds over Tokyo

A vivid eyewitness account of the unorthodox assignment that eighty-five intrepid volunteer airmen--the "Tokyo Raiders"--under the command of celebrated flier James H. Doolittle executed in April 1942

Ted W. Lawson (1917-1992) was a native of California. He joined the Army Air Corps while working for Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica and received his wings in November 1940. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he volunteered for a secret mission that evolved into the raid on Tokyo in April 1942. Random House published his account of the raid, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, in 1943. Lawson subsequently served as technical advisor to MGM during the making of the popular wartime movie based on his book. After retiring from military service in 1945, he reentered private industry and worked on several projects that involved aircraft and space programs