There are some tales that are so extreme that the idea of
a happy ending is itself pure fiction.
That all but one made it out alive to survive is amazing. That they then
made it back says much for the survivability of the airframe which was
certainly tested. That they inflicted so
much damage on the fighters says a lot for the fire power they were packing and
applying. They literally blasted their
way out.
This is also why the impossible is attempted because
sometimes they really do come back. Recall
that none of this would be known or understood had they not as happened to many
other brave airmen during this long conflict.
War demands this type of go for broke type of day to day
heroism that most of us never confront but it is in all of us and we all hope
that it is never needed.
Roger Cicala · Oct 29,
2013
http://petapixel.com/2013/10/29/honored-photograph/
Doesn’t look like
much, does it? But, depending upon your definition, this photograph, a team
effort by 9 men, is the most honored picture in U. S. History. If you want to
find out about it, read on. It’s an interesting tale about how people sometimes
rise beyond all expectations.
It takes place in the early days of World War II, in the South Pacific, and if you’re a World War II history buff, you may already know about it.
The
Screwed Up Pilot
First, let’s get this
out of the way. Jay Zeamer wasn’t a photographer by trade. He was mostly a
wanna-be pilot. He looked good on paper, having graduated with a degree in
civil engineering from MIT, joining the Army Air Corps, and receiving his wings
in March, 1941. He was a B-26 bomber co-pilot when World War II started.
His classmates all
rapidly became lead pilots and squadron leaders, but not Jay. He couldn’t pass
the pilot check tests despite trying numerous times. He was a good pilot, but
just couldn’t seem to land the B-26. Landing, from what I’ve read, was
considered one of the more important qualifications for a pilot. Stuck as a
co-pilot while his classmates and then those from the classes behind him were
promoted, he got bored and lost all motivation.
Things came to a head
when co-pilot Zeamer fell asleep while his plane was in flight. Not just in
flight, but in flight through heavy anti-aircraft fire during a bombing run. He
only woke when the pilot beat him on the chest because he needed help. His
squadron commander had him transferred to a B-17 squadron in Port Moresby,
Papua New Guinea where he was allowed to fly as a fill-in navigator and
occasionally as a co-pilot. He was well liked and popular — on the ground. But
no one wanted to fly with him.
Zeamer finally managed
to get into the pilot’s seat by volunteering for a photoreconnaissance mission
when the scheduled pilot became ill. The mission, an extremely dangerous one
over the Japanese stronghold at Rabual, won Zeamer a Silver Star – despite the
fact that he still hadn’t qualified to pilot a B-17.
The
Eager Beavers
Zeamer become the
Operations Officer (a ground position) at the 43rd Air Group. Despite his lack
of qualification, he still managed to fly as a B-17 fill-in pilot fairly often.
He had discovered found that he loved to fly B-17s on photoreconnaissance
missions, and he wanted to do it full-time. There were only three things
standing in his way: he didn’t have a crew, he didn’t have an airplane, and oh,
yeah, he still wasn’t a qualified pilot.
He solved the first
problem by gravitating to every misfit and ne’er-do-well in the 43rd Air Group.
As another pilot, Walt Krell, recalled, “He recruited a crew of renegades and
screwoffs. They were the worst — men nobody else wanted. But they gravitated
toward one another and made a hell of a team.”
The plane came later.
An old, beat-up B-17, serial number 41-2666, that had seen better days was
flown into their field to be scavenged for spare parts. Captain Zeamer had
other ideas. He and his crew decided to rebuild the plane in their spare time
since they weren’t going to get to fly any other way. Exactly how they managed
to accomplish their task is the subject of some debate. Remember, there were so
few spare parts available that their ‘plane’ was actually brought in originally
to be a parts donor.
But rebuild it they
did. Once it was in flying shape the base commander congratulated them and said
he’d find a new crew to fly it. Not surprisingly, Zeamer and his crew took
exception to this idea, and according Walt Krell the crew slept in their
airplane, having loudly announced that the 50 caliber machine guns were kept
loaded in case anyone came around to ‘borrow’ it. There was a severe shortage
of planes, so the base commander ignored the mutiny and let the crew fly – but
generally expected them to take on missions that no one else wanted.
The misfit crew
thrived on it. They hung around the base operations center, volunteering for
every mission no one else wanted. That earned them the nickname The Eager
Beavers, and their patched up B-17 was called Old 666.
The Eager Beavers: (Back Row) Bud Thues, Zeamer, Hank Dominski,
Sarnoski (Front Row) Vaughn, Kendrick, Able, Pugh.
Once they started
flying their plane on difficult photoreconnaissance missions, they made some
modifications. Even among the men of a combat air station, the Eager Beavers
became known as gun nuts. They replaced all of the light 30 caliber machine
guns in the plane with heavier 50 caliber weapons. Then the 50 caliber machine
guns were replaced with double 50 caliber guns. Zeamer had another pair of
machine guns mounted to the front of the plane so he could remotely fire them
like a fighter pilot. And the crew kept extra machine guns stored in the plane,
just in case one of their other guns jammed or malfunctioned.
As odd as all this
sounds, the South Pacific theatre in the early days of World War II was a
chaotic area scattered over thousands of miles with very little equipment.
Having a plane with an apparently nutty crew who volunteered for every awful
mission not surprisingly made the commanding officers look the other way.
Buka
In June, 1943, the U.
S. had secured Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands. They knew the
Japanese had a huge base at Rabual, but were certain there were other airfields
being built in the Northern Solomon Islands. They asked for a volunteer crew to
take photographs of Bougainville Island to plan for an eventual invasion, and
of Buka airfield on the north side of the island to assess for increased
activity there. It was considered a near-suicide mission — flying hundreds of
miles over enemy airspace in a single, slow bomber. Not to mention
photoreconnaissance meant staying in level flight and taking no evasive action
even if they were attacked.
The only crew that
volunteered, of course, was Jay Zeamer and the Eager Beavers. One of the crew,
bombardier Joseph Sarnovski, had absolutely no reason to volunteer. He’d
already been in combat for 18 months and was scheduled to go home in 3 days.
Being a photo mission, there was no need for a bombardier. But if his friends
were going, he wanted to go, and one of the bombardier’s battle stations was to
man the forward machine guns. They might need him, so he went.
They suspected the
airstrip at Buka had been expanded and reinforced, but weren’t sure until they
got close. As soon as the airfield came in sight, they saw numerous fighters
taking off and heading their way. The logical thing to do would have been to
turn right and head for home. They would be able to tell the intelligence
officers about the increased number of planes at Buka even if they didn’t get
photos.
But Zeamer and
photographer William Kendrick knew that photos would be invaluable for
subsequent planes attacking the base, and for Marines who were planning to
invade the island later. Zeamer held the plane level (tilting the wings even
one degree at that altitude could put the photograph half a mile off target)
and Kendrick took his photos, which gave plenty of time for over 20 enemy
fighters to get up to the altitude Old 666 was flying at.
The fighter group,
commanded by Chief Petty Officer Yoshio Ooki, was experienced and professional.
They carefully set up their attack, forming a semi-circle all around the B-17
and then attacking from all directions at once. Ooki didn’t know about the
extra weapons the Eager Beavers had mounted to their plane, but it wouldn’t
matter if he had; there was no way for a single B-17 to survive those odds.
During the first
fighter pass the plane was hit by hundreds of machine gun bullets and cannon
shells. Five crewman of the B-17 were wounded and the plane badly damaged. All
of the wounded men stayed at their stations and were still firing when the
fighters came in for a second pass, which caused just as the first. Hydraulic
cables were cut, holes the size of footballs appeared in the wings, and the
front plexiglas canopy of the plane was shattered.
Zeamer was wounded
during the second fighter pass, but kept the plane flying level and took no
evasive action until Kendrick called over the intercom that the photography was
completed. Only then did he begin to move the plane from side-t0-side allowing
his gunners better shots, just as the fighters came in for a third wave of
attacks. The third pass blew out the oxygen system of the plane, which was
flying at 28,000 feet. Despite the obvious structural damage Zeamer put the
plane in an emergency dive to get down to a level where there was enough oxygen
for them men to survive.
During the dive, a
20mm cannon shell exploded in the navigator’s compartment. Sarnoski, who was
already wounded, was blown out of his compartment and beneath the cockpit.
Another crewman reached him and saw there was a huge wound in his side. Despite
his obviously mortal wound, Sarnoski said, “Don’t worry about me, I’m all
right” and crawled back to his gun which was now exposed to 300 mile an hour
winds since the plexiglass front of the plane was now gone. He shot down one
more fighter before he died a minute or two later.
The battle continued
for over 40 minutes. The Eager Beavers shot down several fighters and heavily
damaged several others. The B-17 was so heavily damaged, however, that they
didn’t expect to make the several hundred miles long flight back home. Sarnoski
had already died from his wounds. Zeamer had continued piloting the plane
despite multiple wounds. Five other men were seriously wounded.
Flight Officer Ooki’s
squadron returned to Buka out of ammunition and fuel. They understandably
reported the B-17 was destroyed and about to crash in the ocean when they last
saw it.
The B-17 didn’t quite
crash, though. Zeamer had lost consciousness from loss of blood, but regained
it when he was removed from the pilot seat and lay on the floor of the plane.
The copilot, Lt. Britton, was the most qualified to care for the wounded and was
needed in the back of the plane. One of the gunners, Sergeant Able, had liked
to sit in the cockpit behind the pilots and watch them fly. That made him the
most qualified of the crewman, so he flew the plane with Zeamer advising him
from the floor while Britton cared for the wounded.
The plane made it back
to base. (Britton did return to the cockpit for the landing.) After the
landing, the medical triage team had Zeamer removed from the plane last,
because they considered his wounds mortal. Amazingly, the one thing on the
plane not damaged were the cameras and the photos in them were considered
invaluable in planning the invasion of Bougainville.
Epilogue
All of the wounded men
recovered, although it was a close thing for Captain Zeamer. In fact, a death
notification was sent to his parents somewhat prematurely. He spent the next
year in hospitals recovering from his wounds, but lived a long and happy life,
passing away at age 88.
Both Zeamer and
Sarnovski were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the mission, the
only time in World War II that two men from one plane ever received America’s
highest medal for valor in combat. The other members of the crew were awarded
the Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor as an award for
bravery.
So, somewhat
surprisingly, the most decorated combat flight in U. S. history didn’t take
place in a major battle. It was a photo-reconnaissance flight; the flight of
‘old 666′ in June of 1943.
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