ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) Sean Doolittle tugs gently on his bushy red beard and soaks in a history lesson as he strolls in silence along the 872-foot wooden flight deck of the USS Hornet. He checks out old war planes while gazing at spectacular views of San Francisco and the bay, then climbs dozens of stairs to take a turn in the ship's "air boss" seat.

At the USS Hornet Museum, the Oakland Athletics reliever hears all about then-Lt. Col. James "Jimmy" Doolittle and his lead role in the first attack against the Japanese home islands after Pearl Harbor, a daylight barrage on April 18, 1942.

The Doolittle Raid.