Air Force Academy’s uniforms honoring group that bombed Japan in WWII receive mixed feelings on social media

The special football uniforms the Air Force Academy intends to wear, which honor pilots who launched an air attack on Japan as a response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II, have received mixed reactions from social media users. 

The Doolittle Raiders will be honored with special uniforms that commemorate the 80 pilots and crew who were led by then-Lt. Col. James Doolittle. Doolittle was in charge of bombing specific targets in Tokyo and other military locations on April 18, 1942. 

The Air Force athletic department emailed a statement on the uniforms to the Los Angeles Times, saying that the tribute to the Doolittle Raiders was part of its annual Air Power Legacy Series, which “is selected to honor historical moments of the Department of the Air Force and Army Air Corps and aircraft used.” 

“Our Association of Graduates organization is housed on our campus in a building named after General Doolittle (Doolittle Hall). The idea of doing something to honor the Raiders has always been in the plans,” the statement read. 

Air Force football has previewed the special uniforms on social media. They feature a chrome helmet with “B-25” on the front, which is for the type of bombers used during the raid of Japan. There’s also other planes or simply “Doolittle” written on the back of the helmets as well. 

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The jerseys have letters and numbers resembling steel with the Doolittle Raiders’ “Ever into Peril” mantra written along the pants legs. 

However, some of those social media posts have featured images and writing that haven’t been taken in the best way by certain people. One of them was a Thursday post that read “An Ambush” as the caption. It showed the Falcons player in the uniform with a newspaper headline in the background from the day of the raid that read “Toyko Bombed.” A quote from Lt. Col. Doolittle was also in the photo, reading, “The Japanese were apparently entirely unprepared for our arrival.”

“Zero class,” one user responded in the comments. 

“Equating football to a literal war is a very bad thing,” another comment read, with others pointing out that Japan is now a U.S. ally. 

There was another tweet from Air Force football that highlighted statistics the day of the bombing, which included 16 B-25 Mitchell aircrafts that carried 32,000 pounds of explosives. 

However, the tweets have been met more positively than negative, which the Air Force athletic department pointed out to the Los Angeles Times. 

“The post you mention has caused a few negative social media posts, but most of the people on the forum have reacted to the negative posts in a supportive way for the Academy. All of the posts have been factual and taken from accounts of the raid and aftermath,” an email from the athletic department to The Times read. 

“The Air Power Legacy Series has been one of the most popular things we have done in terms of uniforms and social media. … The series has grown since its beginning in 2016 and the uniform reveal has always stirred emotions of patriotism.”

Air Force will wear these uniforms on Oct. 21 when they take on Navy.