BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES H. "JIMMY" DOOLITTLE - TYPED LETTER SIGNED - HFSID 218306

JAMES H. DOOLITTLE
James Doolittle sends a typed letter discussing the start of the postal system.
Typed Letter Signed: "J. H. Doolittle" as Manager, Aviation Department, Shell Petroleum Corporation, 1p, 7¼x10½. No place, 1932 July 25. On George Washington Bicentennial Airplane Flight stationery. To The Honorable David Hogg, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. In full: "One hundred and fifty-seven years ago this week, the Continental Congress inaugurated the postal service of the United Colonies and this later became the Post Office Department of the United States. Benjamin Franklin became the first director. Mail, at that time, was carried by post riders and stage coach. No one in the early days of the service had a more appreciative understanding of the advantages of a postal service than George Washington. No one did more to give it a firm foundation. In this Bicentennial Year of George Washington's birth it therefore seems appropriate that a demonstration be made of the advance of transportation facilities since those early days. I am making a flight over as many of the routes traveled by George Washington as is possible in a single day from dawn to dusk. I am informed that the average speed made by George Washington may be considered to be about twenty miles a day. The advance since then can best be indicated by the fact that it is hoped to cover in each hour the distance it took Washington nine days to travel. So that you will have a record of this flight, I am dropping several of these letters as I pass over certain cities, and hope that they will all bear the postmark of the same date. Hoping that this demonstration will indicate the great advance made in speed in 157 years and show the extent of the travels of the Father of Our Country, I am Sincerely yours". In 1922, Jimmy Doolittle made the first transcontinental flight in less than 24 hours. In the 1920s and 1930s, he set various speed and flight records. In World War II, Doolittle and 79 other fighter pilots ("Doolittle's Raiders") bombed Tokyo on April 18, 1942, the first air attack on the Japanese capital. Also hit were targets in Yokohama and other cities, scoring a huge victory for United States morale at a time when Japan's position in the Pacific seemed impregnable. Doolittle was promoted to Brigadier General the next day and was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the raid. Folds, slightly soiled, else fine condition.