The Purple Heart of wartime propaganda that had a stereotypical portrayal of the Japanese (usually by actors of non-Japanese origin) as sadistic tyrants trying to wrest the secret of their aircraft carrier's location during torture sessions. The 16 air crews did arrive over Japan from the USS Hornet (CV-8). President Franklin D. Roosevelt said the crews came from Shangri-La, a fictional place described in the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon" by British author James Hilton. The USS Shangri-La (CV-38) was commissioned in 1944. "The Purple Heart" was based on the real-life story of eight Doolittle Raiders who were captured from two different crews: Lieutenants
James Hilton (novelist) James Hilton (novelist) James Hilton (9 September 190020 December 1954) was an English novelist best remembered for several best-sellers, including "Lost Horizon" and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips". He also wrote Hollywood screenplays. Born in Leigh, Lancashire, England, Hilton was the son of John Hilton, the headmaster of Chapel End School in Walthamstow. He was educated at The Leys School, Cambridge and then at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he wrote his first novel and was awarded an honours degree in English literature. He started work as a journalist, first for the "Manchester Guardian", then reviewing fiction for the "Daily Telegraph". He wrote