Obituary of one of the participants...the last survivor.The plan devised by Doolittle to illustrate that the Japan homeland was also vulnerable to air attacks....a morale booster for the US at the time when the Japan threat to SE Asia seemed insurmountable. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Cole, pilot and last survivor of the ‘Doolittle Raiders’ who carried out a daring attack on the Japanese mainland – obituary
There's a summary in "The War Illustrated" of what was being reported soon after the raid... The War Illustrated Archive Vol. 5 - 128 - May 15th 1942 p680...