The number 15 plane on the Doolittle Raid carried a flight surgeon, Dr. Thomas Robert White, MD (1909–92). White was a graduate of Harvard Medical School and recipient of both the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross.

During the war, White authored a 40,000-word account of the mission. He vividly described the bombing and subsequent escape and evasion through occupied China. This included a lifesaving leg amputation for Ted Lawson, author of Thirty Seconds over Tokyo. 

Part of White’s story was published in Atlantic magazine circa 1944. The balance remained private. The doctor's granddaughter, Gabrielle Adelman, partnered with aerospace expert John Fredrickson to prepare the manuscript for this publication, with editing and significant annotation.