On 18 April 1942 — today is 18 April, y’all — sixteen B-25B Mitchell bomber aircraft flew off the deck of the USS Hornet and conducted a bombing raid on Tokyo. The raid was militarily insignificant, but it sent a message to the Japanese. America was in the fight — four months after Pearl Harbor — and intended to take the fight to their capital.

My father told me it was an enormous boost to American morale. He was in the Army and the Army was getting ready to go to war in North Africa on 8 November 1942 with the Operation Torch landings.

It would take until 7 August 1942 when Marines landed on Guadalcanal to take the fight to the Japanese army. By 9 February 1943, the Marines and our Army controlled Guadalcanal and Henderson Field from which we then launched other raids.

The Japanese had struck a killing blow at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 leaving our fleet virtually destroyed and our ability to defend the American west coast questionable. The papers were filled with Japanese victories. We were on the run in the entire Pacific. But, the Japanese made a huge miscalculation and had unleashed an angry American tiger looking for revenge.

A Lieutenant Colonel named James Doolittle said he would organize a bombing raid that would use B-25 bombers — planes that had never taken off from an aircraft carrier — and bomb the Japanese capital.

Sixteen planes, 80 men — of whom 77 would survive the raid. A few planes, a few men, but a bold plan. It so unnerved the Japanese, they made horrific reprisals.

It also changed the psychology of the Japanese. It caused them to doubt if they could defend the home islands, if this wasn’t a taste of things to come. They were right.

The Japanese under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto — who we would kill in the air on 18 April 1943 — see what I just did there? 18 April 1942, one year after the Doolittle raid to the day — advanced the long-planned attack on Midway Island.

At Midway, the US Navy laid a trap, sprung it, and put a first rate ass whipping on the Japanese navy, pricking their bubble of invulnerability and sending a raft of their carriers to the bottom.

On 2 September 1945, in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur accepted the unconditional surrender of the Japanese nation, of their military forces, of the Emperor Hirohito.

Historical fact — Emperor Hirohito surrendered on 15 August via radio, but the signing didn’t take place until 2 September. That is why there has always been confusion as to VJ — Victory Over Japan — Day.

It was a long, hard fight, but in the end, the enemy surrendered unconditionally, whereafter the United States entered a time of incredible prosperity.

Today, on 18 April 2020, America is fighting its way back from the unsuspected, undeserved attack on the United States unleashed by COVID19. We have absorbed the initial onslaught, we have learned a few things, we are ready to come back.

It won’t be long before we have useful therapeutics, a vaccine — but right now, we are getting back into the fight to preserve our economy. We are already winning.

As the economy re-opens, be careful. Be attentive to the rules. Take your time, but know we will emerge victorious against COVID19.

It will be an unconditional surrender because . . . . . America. That is who we are. That is how we do things. God bless us all.