# A couple of questions about "Pearl Harbor" Doolittle Raid (the 2001 movie) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991 "2016-06-10T01:45:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/21 "2019-04-10T02:35:09Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > No one flier would have been in the Battle of Britain in fighter aircraft, then at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 in another different fighter aircraft, and then a few months later be in a bomber flying off an aircraft carrier. And I checked. It turns out Ben Affleck wasn’t even alive during World War II. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/22 "2019-04-10T04:08:48Z")
And Alec Baldwin looked _nothing_ like Jimmy Doolittle: [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Doolittle#/media/File:Lt._General_James_Doolittle,_head_and_shoulders.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Doolittle#/media/File:Lt._General_James_Doolittle,_head_and_shoulders.jpg) [http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/8/813/1EQI000Z/posters/alec-baldwin-pearl-harbor.jpg](http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/8/813/1EQI000Z/posters/alec-baldwin-pearl-harbor.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/23 "2019-04-10T05:15:32Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I know the Doolittle Raid has been discussed in a few different threads, but this seems as good a place as any to mention this. Richard Cole, the last survivor of the Raid, [died today](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/09/obituaries/richard-cole-dead.html) at 103. He was copilot of the lead plane, sitting alongside Doolittle. He lived long enough to see the discovery of the wreck of the USS _Hornet_. She was sunk in 1942 and discovered just a couple months ago. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/24 "2019-04-10T05:54:10Z")
Regarding #2, the actual distance to the patrol boats when sighted was about 10 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/25 "2019-04-10T10:26:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Affleck’s character was particularly unbelievable. I can’t tell which movie you’re talking about. 😉 Seriously though…imagine going on such a nearly suicidal mission at the start of the war and yet living to 103 after all. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/26 "2019-04-10T17:24:17Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Doolittle Raid - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid) > > Remember that _Hornet_ had a top speed of about 32 kt (37 mph), there’s ‘free speed’ the planes didn’t have to accelerate to. Also, guns and equipment were removed from the aircraft to make them lighter. Add to this that carriers always head into the wind as well during A/C takeoffs. Whatever wind speed is additional “free speed”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/27 "2019-04-10T19:24:58Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I can’t tell which movie you’re talking about. He was the bomb in Phantoms. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/28 "2019-04-11T02:01:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > He was the bomb in Phantoms. Word, bitch, Phantoms like a motherfucker. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/29 "2019-04-11T03:39:47Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > The thing I notice on the movie was this. > > No one flier would have been in the Battle of Britain in fighter aircraft, then at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 in another different fighter aircraft, and then a few months later be in a bomber flying off an aircraft carrier. Slightly related to the quote and since we’ve mentioned the movies _Pearl Harbor_ and\* 30 Seconds Over Tokyo\*, my mother’s cousin was stationed at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th and was on the _USS Missouri_ in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered. I wonder how many others witnessed both firsthand. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/30 "2019-04-11T04:04:10Z")
A thing that gets me, in a lot of these resurrected threads, is just how many former participants got banned along the way. And not just spammers, or full time shit-stirrers, but posters who usually, in the threads I remembered them, had something interesting and informative to say. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/31 "2019-04-11T04:22:20Z")
That movie was an absolute PIECE OF SHIT. > [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > A thing that gets me, in a lot of these resurrected threads, is just how many former participants got banned along the way. And not just spammers, or full time shit-stirrers, but posters who usually, in the threads I remembered them, had something interesting and informative to say. I’ve often thought this myself. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/32 "2019-04-12T17:53:21Z")
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/richard-cole-air-force-pilot-and-last-of-the-doolittle-raiders-dies-at-103/2019/04/10/dc0c3386-5b12-11e9-a00e-050dc7b82693\_story.html?utm\_term=.1f3915d9726a](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/richard-cole-air-force-pilot-and-last-of-the-doolittle-raiders-dies-at-103/2019/04/10/dc0c3386-5b12-11e9-a00e-050dc7b82693_story.html?utm_term=.1f3915d9726a) ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/33 "2019-04-12T17:57:39Z")
Last Raider dies. > **[Richard Cole, World War II pilot and last of the Doolittle Raiders, dies at 103](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/richard-cole-air-force-pilot-and-last-of-the-doolittle-raiders-dies-at-103/2019/04/10/dc0c3386-5b12-11e9-a00e-050dc7b82693_story.html?utm_term=.1f3915d9726a)** > > He was Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot during a daring mission that boosted U.S. morale. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991/34 "2019-04-12T23:14:10Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I know the Doolittle Raid has been discussed in a few different threads, but this seems as good a place as any to mention this. Richard Cole, the last survivor of the Raid, [died today](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/09/obituaries/richard-cole-dead.html) at 103. He was copilot of the lead plane, sitting alongside Doolittle. He lived long enough to see the discovery of the wreck of the USS _Hornet_. She was sunk in 1942 and discovered just a couple months ago. I went to a lecture by him a couple of years ago. he was very unassuming and still sharp as a tack. Good sense of humor. As to the op’s first question, I don’t know if it was an actual Doolittle quote but the idea is simple. If you fail to fly off the deck of the ship then the resulting crash into the water is followed by a close up view of the bottom of the ship. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-questions-about-pearl-harbor-doolittle-raid-the-2001-movie/756991.md?page=1)