Have A Little Faith

A B-25 taking off of the U.S.S. Hornet during the raid

One of the most famous missions of the Second World War was the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo of April 18, 1942.  Due to their carrier being spotted, the bombers had to take off ten hours earlier and one hundred and seventy nautical miles earlier than planned.  When the mission was over, instead of landing in China as intended, the planes had scattered all over due to a lack of fuel.  Some even had to parachute into Japan.
Doolittle was devastated, considering the mission a failure.  He told himself he'd be fortunate to get out of this unholy mess with life in Leavenworth.  Paul Leonard, his mechanic approached him, letting him know four things:  1)  Thing weren't as bad as they seemed.  2)  Doolittle would have the Medal of Honor within a year.  3)  He would also be a brigadier general. 4)  Leonard hoped when all this happened, he could be Doolittle's crew chief..

Doolittle realized that someone had faith in him, and it bucked him up.  He told the man that as long as he flew, that man would be his crew chief.  Well, Doolittle did receive the Medal of Honor, and instead of receiving one star, got three. 

Leonard stayed on with him, and died saving Doollittle's plane, running for a shell hole when a bomb hit it.  All that was found of him was his arm and watch.  It was probably the hardest letter Doolittle ever had to write, and the most personal loss of the war. 

Even without his contribution to World War Two, Jimmy Doolittle would have gone down in history, due to his significant work in aviation.  Paul Leonard, on the other hand, has had his name forgotten by history.  You can be sure that Jimmy Doolittle never forgot him.  The man was there when Doolittle needed him the most, letting him know things were going to be okay, to just have a little faith, even the size of a mustard seed. 

After all, his mechanic did.