They called it cursed. Tail number 666. A beat-up B-17 parked at the end of the runway as spare parts. No crew wanted it. No pilot would touch it.
Then Captain Jay Zeamer — a pilot who couldn't even pass his check ride — took it. He gathered a crew of misfits nobody else wanted and did something to that bomber that made every other pilot on the base laugh. On June 16, 1943, Zeamer and his nine-man crew took off from Port Moresby on a mission 600 miles over open ocean that three other crews had already refused. What was waiting for them over Bougainville would turn into 40 minutes of pure hell — and would make them the most decorated aircrew in American military history.
No escort. No backup. Just one bomber and one crew against everything the Japanese could throw at them. What they did that morning has never been matched.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
Then Captain Jay Zeamer — a pilot who couldn't even pass his check ride — took it. He gathered a crew of misfits nobody else wanted and did something to that bomber that made every other pilot on the base laugh. On June 16, 1943, Zeamer and his nine-man crew took off from Port Moresby on a mission 600 miles over open ocean that three other crews had already refused. What was waiting for them over Bougainville would turn into 40 minutes of pure hell — and would make them the most decorated aircrew in American military history.
No escort. No backup. Just one bomber and one crew against everything the Japanese could throw at them. What they did that morning has never been matched.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00June 16, 1943, 4.02 in the morning.
00:04Captain Jay Zemer sat in the cockpit of B-17E, tail number 412666, at Port Moresby,
00:11watching his crew complete final checks before flying 600 miles over open ocean into the heart of Japanese-held territory.
00:19He was 25 years old, 53 combat missions behind him, and half the 5th Air Force still called him a
00:25misfit.
00:26400 Japanese fighters were stationed across Bougainville and Bucca.
00:3017 Mitsubishi A6M-0 fighters were already warming engines at Bucca airfield that morning.
00:37Nobody wanted this mission.
00:39The Bomber Command had been asking for volunteers for three days.
00:42Single-ship photo reconnaissance over Empress Augusta Bay. No fighter escort, no backup.
00:48Just one B-17 flying straight and level for 22 minutes while Japanese fighters scrambled from four different airfields.
00:56The last crew that attempted a similar run over Rabool never made it back.
01:00Neither did the crew before them.
01:02Photo reconnaissance missions in the Southwest Pacific had a 40% loss rate.
01:07Zemer knew the numbers. Everyone knew the numbers.
01:09The B-17 sitting on the runway at Port Moresby was supposed to be scrap metal, tail number ending in
01:15666.
01:16Other crews called it cursed, said it attracted damage like a magnet.
01:20By early 1943, the bomber had been hit so many times that the 43rd Bomb Group parked it at the
01:26end of the runway as a parts donor.
01:29Zemer saw something different.
01:30He saw an airframe that kept flying, no matter how much punishment it took.
01:34Zemer had never been the golden boy of the Army Air Corps.
01:37He graduated MIT with a degree in civil engineering, joined up after Pearl Harbor, and immediately failed his pilot check
01:44ride, multiple times.
01:46The examiners said he was too analytical, too mechanical, not instinctive enough.
01:51So they made him a co-pilot on B-26 Marauders.
01:54He spent 18 months watching other men fly while he sat in the right seat.
01:58When he finally transferred to B-17s in the Pacific, nobody would give him a crew.
02:04Nobody would give him a plane.
02:05So he built his own crew from the men nobody else wanted.
02:08Joe Sarnowski, the bombardier who'd been in theater 18 months and should have rotated home.
02:14Ruby Johnston, the navigator who questioned orders.
02:18Herbert Pugh, the tail gunner other pilots called too aggressive.
02:21Johnny Abel, the engineer who modified equipment without permission.
02:25One by one, Zemer collected the misfits, the troublemakers, the men who volunteered for every dangerous mission because sitting idle
02:33drove them insane.
02:34They called themselves the Eager Beavers.
02:36Then, they took the cursed bomber.
02:38Zemer and his crew stripped 2,000 pounds of weight from the airframe, replaced the aging engines with new ones.
02:45Then they started adding guns.
02:46Standard B-17Es carried 12 .50 caliber machine guns, with some positions mounting smaller .30 caliber weapons.
02:54The Eager Beavers ripped out every .30 caliber gun and replaced them with .50 calibers.
03:00They installed twin .50s in both waist positions instead of singles.
03:04Twin .50s in the radio compartment.
03:06They mounted a fixed .50 caliber on the nose deck, wired directly to Zemer's control yoke so he could fire
03:12it from the pilot seat.
03:13By the time they finished, old 666 carried 16 active .50 caliber machine guns, with three more stored in the
03:20catwalk for quick replacement if any gun went down in combat.
03:2419 guns total.
03:26More firepower than any B-17 in the Pacific theater.
03:29Other crews laughed, called it overkill, said all those guns would just make them a slower target.
03:34What those 19 guns did next, changed the air war over the Pacific.
03:39Like this video to help us bring more of these forgotten stories to light.
03:43Hit subscribe.
03:44Now back to Zemer.
03:45On the night of June 15th, operations called with an addition to the mission.
03:49After photographing Bougainville, they wanted old 666 to swing north and photograph Buka airfield.
03:55Zemer knew what that meant.
03:58Buka was crawling with Japanese fighters.
04:00Flying over Buka was suicide.
04:02He looked at his crew.
04:04They looked back.
04:05Nobody said a word.
04:07Nobody had to.
04:08At 03.30 on June 16th, nine men climbed aboard old 666.
04:14At 4.02, Zemer pushed the throttles forward.
04:17By 4.15, they were over open ocean, heading toward an island defended by 17 Japanese fighters
04:24that would spot them the moment they crossed the coastline.
04:27The transformation of old 666 had taken three weeks in May 1943.
04:32Zemer and his crew worked through nights at Port Moresby, sleeping under the wings between shifts.
04:38Other crews walked past and shook their heads.
04:41Nobody rebuilt a plane that was already marked for salvage.
04:44Nobody except the eager beavers.
04:46The first challenge was weight.
04:48Every pound of armor plating.
04:50Every unnecessary structural brace.
04:52Every piece of equipment not essential for combat came out.
04:56Zemer calculated that speed would matter more than protection.
04:59If they flew fast enough, Japanese fighters would have less time to line up killing shots.
05:04The crew stripped out cartridge belt feeders and replaced them with simpler mechanisms.
05:09They removed ammunition boxes and installed direct feeds.
05:132,000 pounds. Gone.
05:15Then came the engines.
05:16The original Wright Cyclones had over 800 hours on them.
05:20Worn cylinders.
05:22Degraded seals.
05:23Zemer requisitioned four fresh engines from the depot at Brisbane.
05:26The paperwork said they were for a different squadron.
05:29Nobody checked too carefully.
05:31Within a week, old 666 had the most reliable power plants in the 43rd bomb group.
05:37But the guns were the real innovation.
05:39Standard defensive doctrine said spread your firepower across multiple positions.
05:44The eager beavers said, concentrate it where fighters actually attacked.
05:48Ball turret.
05:49Tail.
05:50Waist.
05:51Dorsal.
05:51Nose.
05:52They analyzed combat reports from every B-17 mission in the theater.
05:57Japanese pilots favored head-on attacks because most bombers carried lighter nose armament.
06:01So Zemer mounted three .50 caliber guns in the nose instead of two smaller weapons.
06:07Then he did something nobody had tried before.
06:09He installed a fixed gun on the nose deck, wired through the bulkhead to a trigger on his control yoke.
06:15When fighters came straight at him, he could fire back without waiting for the bombardier.
06:20The waist positions got doubled firepower.
06:23Twin .50s on each side.
06:24The radio compartment, normally defended by a single gun, got twins mounted overhead.
06:30Every position could now deliver twice the standard volume of fire.
06:34The modification manuals said it was impossible.
06:38Too much recoil.
06:39Too much heat.
06:40The airframe couldn't handle it.
06:42The eager beavers ignored the manuals.
06:44They test-fired every position over the Coral Sea.
06:47The airframe held.
06:48By early June, old 666 was ready.
06:51Zeemer and his crew had already flown two reconnaissance missions in the modified bomber.
06:57April 12th.
06:58Rabool.
06:5915 to 20 Japanese fighters intercepted them.
07:02The eager beavers fought through and brought back photographs.
07:05Silver stars for everyone.
07:07May 5th.
07:08Medang.
07:09Anti-aircraft fire hit them 63 times.
07:12Stabilizer shot out.
07:14Oxygen tanks exploded.
07:16Zeemer brought them home anyway.
07:18Late May.
07:19We whack.
07:19Flying at 900 feet.
07:22Zeemer used his nose gun to strafe searchlights while his crew photographed Japanese positions.
07:27Every mission proved the same thing.
07:30More guns meant more survival.
07:32The 5th Air Force started calling them gun nuts.
07:35The eager beavers took it as a compliment.
07:37But the Bougainville mission was different.
07:39Everything about it was worse.
07:41600 miles over open ocean meant no emergency landing sites.
07:45No friendly territory.
07:47If they went down, they went down in Japanese controlled waters.
07:51The photo run required flying straight and level for 22 minutes.
07:55No evasive maneuvers.
07:57No deviations.
07:58Just hold course while every Japanese fighter in range converged on your position.
08:03Intelligence estimated 400 Japanese aircraft stationed across Bougainville.
08:07Even with 19 guns, old 666 couldn't fight 400 planes.
08:12The night of June 15th, Zeemer sat under the bomber's wing at Port Moresby.
08:17His crew was scattered around the airfield, writing letters, checking equipment, doing the small things men do before missions they
08:24might not survive.
08:25Zeemer knew the statistics.
08:2740% of photo reconnaissance crews never returned.
08:30Old 666 had beaten those odds twice.
08:34Tomorrow, they'd find out if their modifications were good enough to beat them a third time.
08:38At 2300 hours, operations called with the Bucca edition.
08:43Zeemer hung up and stared at the phone for 10 seconds.
08:45Then he walked out to where his crew was gathered near the bomber.
08:48He told them about Bucca.
08:50Told them it would double the danger.
08:52Told them they could refuse and nobody would blame them.
08:54Every man stayed.
08:56Every man climbed aboard when Zeemer called pre-flight at 0330.
09:01Three hours later, at 0700 on June 16th, old 666 crossed the coastline of Bougainville at 25,000 feet.
09:09Zeemer could see Bucca airfield to the north.
09:12He could see aircraft on the runway.
09:14And as he watched, he could see them starting to move.
09:17At 0715, old 666 reached Empress Augusta Bay on the western coast of Bougainville.
09:23The sun was still below the horizon.
09:26Sergeant George Kendrick, manning the Trimetragon camera array in the belly of the bomber,
09:31couldn't get clear photographs in the pre-dawn darkness.
09:33They had two options.
09:35Loiter over Bougainville until sunrise and risk every Japanese fighter on the island scrambling to intercept them.
09:41Or, fly north to Bucca, photograph the airfield there, and return to Bougainville when the light was better.
09:48Zeemer made the call.
09:49North to Bucca.
09:5020 minutes flying time.
09:52At 0735, old 666 passed over Bucca airfield at 25,000 feet.
09:58Through the clear morning air, the crew could count aircraft on the runway below.
10:0317 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters.
10:06Model 22 variants.
10:08Faster than any American fighter in the theater.
10:10More maneuverable.
10:11Better climbing rate.
10:12And as the eager Beavers watched, engines started firing up.
10:16One by one, the Zeroes began taxiing toward the runway.
10:19Kendrick's camera was already rolling.
10:22The photo run required holding course for 22 minutes.
10:25Straight and level.
10:27No deviations.
10:28Every second they stayed on course gave the Japanese more time to gain altitude and attack position.
10:34Zeemer held the B-17 steady.
10:36Behind him, his crew manned their guns and waited.
10:39At 0740, the first Zero reached altitude.
10:42Then another.
10:43Then three more.
10:44They formed up south of old 666, between the bomber and home.
10:48Technical Sergeant Herbert Pugh, in the tail position, was the first to open fire.
10:54The Japanese pilots had expected to attack a standard B-17 with single tail guns.
10:59Instead, Pugh's position carried twin 50s.
11:02The lead Zero pilot broke off his approach, surprised by the volume of fire coming from
11:07what should have been the bomber's weakest position.
11:10The Japanese adjusted.
11:11If the tail was heavily defended, they'd attack from the front.
11:15Standard doctrine.
11:15Most B-17s carried lighter nose armament.
11:19Easier to punch through.
11:20Three Zero's accelerated and swung wide, positioning for a head-on attack.
11:25They didn't know about the modifications.
11:27At 0743, three Zero's came straight at old 666 from 12 o'clock high.
11:34Zeemer saw them coming.
11:35His thumb found the trigger on his control yoke.
11:37The fixed .50 caliber on the nose deck opened fire.
11:41At the same moment, 2nd Lieutenant Joseph Sarnoski, positioned in the plexiglass nose with
11:46three .50 caliber guns, opened up.
11:48The combined firepower created a wall of tracers stretching between the bomber and the attacking
11:53fighters.
11:54The lead Zero took hits across the left wing.
11:57Fuel tanks ruptured.
11:58The fighter rolled inverted and dropped away, trailing smoke.
12:02Zeemer's gun had drawn first blood.
12:04Sarnoski tracked the second Zero and fired.
12:07The Japanese pilot tried to break left, but the .50 caliber rounds caught him in the engine
12:12cowling.
12:13The Zero exploded 200 yards in front of the bomber.
12:16Old 666 flew through the debris cloud.
12:19The third Zero pilot opened fire with his 20mm cannons.
12:22Four shells hit Old 666 in rapid succession.
12:26Two punched through the plexiglass nose.
12:29One detonated inside the cockpit.
12:31The instrument panel on Zeemer's left side disintegrated.
12:35Shrapnel tore into his left leg above and below the knee, breaking the bone.
12:39His left thigh opened up.
12:40More shrapnel hit both arms and his right leg.
12:43Blood sprayed across the cockpit controls.
12:46In the nose, Sarnoski took a direct hit.
12:48A 20mm shell caught him in the side, blowing him backward off his gun position.
12:54He collapsed on the deck of the nose compartment, bleeding from multiple wounds.
12:58Zeemer's vision blurred.
12:59His left leg wouldn't respond.
13:01His hands were slippery with blood on the control yoke.
13:04But they were only three minutes into the photo run.
13:07Nineteen minutes to go.
13:08He held the bomber steady.
13:10Behind Zeemer, 2nd Lieutenant John Britton, the co-pilot, reached across to help stabilize
13:15the controls.
13:16In the waist positions, Technical Sergeant Forrest Dillman and Sergeant William Vaughn tracked
13:22new targets.
13:23More Zeros were climbing toward them.
13:25The Japanese had committed everything.
13:27Fifteen fighters now, circling, probing, looking for weaknesses in the defensive fire.
13:32In the nose, Sarnoski pulled himself upright.
13:35Blood soaked his flight suit.
13:37He couldn't feel his left side.
13:39But his guns were still functional.
13:40He grabbed the .50 caliber mounting and hauled himself back into position.
13:44When the next Zero made its attack run, Sarnoski was ready.
13:49He fired.
13:49The Zero went down.
13:51Eighteen minutes left on the photo run.
13:54Fifteen Japanese fighters still attacking.
13:56And Zeemer was losing consciousness.
13:58At 0748, another wave of Zeros attacked from above and behind.
14:04One pilot lined up on the radio compartment and opened fire.
14:07Twenty-millimeter shells tore through the fuselage.
14:10The oxygen system exploded.
14:13Pressurized bottles ruptured and ignited, filling the compartment with white-hot flame.
14:17The radio operator and top turret gunner grabbed whatever fabric they could find and beat at the flames with their
14:23bare hands.
14:24The fire died but left the oxygen system destroyed.
14:28At 25,000 feet, the crew had minutes before hypoxia set in.
14:32Zeemer, already struggling to stay conscious from blood loss, made the only decision possible.
14:38He pushed the control yoke forward.
14:41Old 666 dropped into a steep dive.
14:4425,000 feet to 10,000 feet in under a minute.
14:48The sudden descent threw equipment across the interior.
14:51Spent shell casings rolled and scattered.
14:54But at 10,000 feet, the crew could breathe again without supplemental oxygen.
14:58The Japanese followed them down.
15:01Now the fight shifted to lower altitude, where the Zeros had even more advantages.
15:06Better maneuverability.
15:07Tighter turning radius.
15:09Higher speed.
15:10Fourteen fighters still pressed the attack, coming from every angle, trying to find a gap in the defensive fire.
15:17They found none.
15:18Every position on old 666 was manned and firing.
15:22The ball turret gunner tracked targets below.
15:25The waist gunners covered the beam approaches.
15:27The top turret swept the upper hemisphere.
15:30Pew in the tail held off attackers from behind.
15:33In the nose, Sarnowski was dying.
15:35The 20mm wound had torn through vital organs.
15:38He'd lost massive amounts of blood.
15:40His breathing came in shallow gasps.
15:42But when he saw another fighter lining up for a nose attack,
15:46he pulled himself back to his guns one more time.
15:48The aircraft approaching wasn't a zero.
15:51Intelligence identified it later as a Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah.
15:55A twin engine reconnaissance plane pressed into fighter duty.
15:59Sarnowski tracked it with his .50 caliber and fired.
16:02The Dinah's right engine erupted in flames.
16:05The aircraft rolled and went down.
16:07Then Sarnowski collapsed across his guns and didn't move again.
16:10Zeemer saw it happen but couldn't help.
16:13His own vision kept dimming.
16:15The pain in his left leg was overwhelming.
16:17Every time he moved the control yoke, broken bone ground against broken bone.
16:21His blood pressure was dropping.
16:23He knew the signs of shock.
16:25Cold skin.
16:26Rapid pulse.
16:27Confusion.
16:28He was running out of time.
16:30But the photo run wasn't finished.
16:31Kendrick in the belly still had his camera rolling.
16:34Still capturing images of Japanese positions that would be needed for the invasion.
16:39At 0800, Kendrick called over the intercom.
16:42Photo run complete.
16:43All targets photographed.
16:45Zeemer turned Old 666 south, heading for open ocean.
16:49Behind them, the Japanese fighters followed for another five minutes before breaking off.
16:54They were low on fuel and ammunition.
16:56The running fight had taken them far from their base.
16:59One by one, the Zeros turned back toward Bucca.
17:02By 0815, Old 666 was over open water.
17:06The immediate threat was gone.
17:08But now the eager Beavers faced a different problem.
17:11500 miles of ocean between them and Port Moresby.
17:14No oxygen system to climb to safe altitude.
17:17Multiple crew members wounded.
17:19Their pilot barely conscious.
17:21And fuel burning at low altitude where the engines were less efficient.
17:24Britton, the co-pilot, assessed the damage while maintaining heading.
17:28The cockpit instrument panel was destroyed on the left side.
17:32Navigation would have to be done by dead reckoning.
17:34The fuselage was riddled with bullet and cannon holes.
17:37At least 50 punctures.
17:39Maybe more.
17:40Several control cables had been hit, but still functioned.
17:43The hydraulic system was leaking.
17:45Landing gear extension would be questionable.
17:47Both the pilot and bombardier were critically wounded.
17:50The navigator had taken shrapnel.
17:52The top turret gunner had burns on both hands from fighting the oxygen fire.
17:57But the engines were still running.
17:58All four.
18:00The modifications had held.
18:012,000 pounds of stripped weight meant better performance on three engines if one failed.
18:06The extra guns had kept the Japanese at bay long enough to complete the mission.
18:11Everything Zeemer and his crew had built into old 666 had worked exactly as designed.
18:16Now they had to prove it could get them home.
18:19Zeemer's head dropped forward.
18:20Britton grabbed the controls.
18:22500 miles to go.
18:24Four hours of flying.
18:26And Zeemer wasn't going to stay conscious much longer.
18:28At 0830, Zeemer regained consciousness long enough to check their heading.
18:33South-southwest.
18:35Correct course for Port Moresby.
18:37Then his vision went dark again.
18:39Britton kept the bomber steady at 10,000 feet.
18:42Any higher and the crew would need oxygen they didn't have.
18:45Any lower and fuel consumption would increase beyond their margins.
18:49They had maybe four hours of flight time remaining.
18:52Port Moresby was four and a half hours away at current airspeed.
18:55In the waste section, Sergeant Vaughn moved through the aircraft, checking on wounded crew members.
19:01The navigator had taken shrapnel in his right arm, but could still work his charts.
19:06The top turret gunner's hands were burned raw from fighting the oxygen fire,
19:10but he stayed at his post, scanning the sky for any Japanese fighters that might have followed them out to
19:15sea.
19:16Sergeant Abel, the engineer, worked on the hydraulic system, trying to patch leaks with whatever materials he could find.
19:23Every system had been damaged.
19:25Nothing had failed completely.
19:26Yet.
19:27Vaughn reached the nose compartment at 0840.
19:30Sarnowski was slumped over his guns.
19:32Vaughn checked for a pulse.
19:34Found none.
19:35The bombardier had died sometime in the last 15 minutes.
19:3829 years old.
19:4018 months in combat.
19:42Three days from rotating home.
19:44He'd volunteered for a mission that didn't need a bombardier,
19:47because his crew was going, and he wouldn't let them go without him.
19:51Vaughn reported Sarnowski's death over the intercom.
19:54Nobody said anything.
19:55There was nothing to say.
19:57The mission required silence and concentration.
20:00Mourning would come later, if they made it home.
20:03At 0900, Ziemer came to again.
20:05His left leg had gone numb.
20:07That was bad.
20:09It meant nerve damage or severed blood flow.
20:11Britton was flying the aircraft smoothly, holding course, maintaining altitude.
20:16Ziemer tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry.
20:19He managed a nod toward the co-pilot.
20:22Britton nodded back.
20:23They understood each other.
20:24Britton would fly.
20:26Ziemer would stay conscious as long as possible, in case they needed his experience for the landing.
20:30The minutes stretched into hours.
20:3310 o'clock.
20:3311 o'clock.
20:34The ocean below remained empty.
20:37No landmarks.
20:38No reference points.
20:39Just endless water in every direction.
20:41The navigator plotted their position by dead reckoning,
20:44measuring time and airspeed, calculating wind drift, hoping his estimates were accurate.
20:49If they were off by even 10 degrees, they could miss Port Moresby entirely,
20:54and run out of fuel over open ocean.
20:56At 11.30, Ziemer's head dropped forward again.
20:59This time he didn't wake up.
21:01His breathing was shallow.
21:03His pulse was weak.
21:04Britton checked him quickly, then returned his attention to flying.
21:08They'd been in the air seven and a half hours.
21:10Fuel gauges showed reserves almost gone.
21:13If they didn't see land in the next 30 minutes, they'd have to ditch in the ocean.
21:17At 11.52, the navigator called out.
21:20Landfall ahead.
21:21The southern coast of Papua New Guinea.
21:23They'd hit their navigation almost perfectly.
21:26Port Moresby was 30 miles northwest, 15 minutes of flying time.
21:30The fuel gauges showed nearly empty.
21:33Britton started his descent.
21:34Port Moresby Tower cleared them for immediate landing.
21:37No traffic.
21:38No delays.
21:39The control tower had been listening to their distress calls for the last hour.
21:43Crash crews were standing by.
21:45Ambulances were positioned near the runway.
21:48Everyone at Seven Mile Airstrip knew the eager Beavers were coming in shot to pieces.
21:52At 12.07, old 666 crossed the airfield boundary at 200 feet.
21:58Britton extended the landing gear.
22:00The hydraulic system struggled, but the gear locked down.
22:03He cut power to the engines.
22:05The B-17 dropped toward the runway.
22:08Too fast.
22:09Britton pulled back on the yoke.
22:11The bomber's nose came up.
22:12The main gear touched down hard.
22:15The aircraft bounced once, settled, and rolled out.
22:18Britton brought old 666 to a stop near the end of the runway.
22:22He shut down all four engines.
22:24Then he climbed out of his seat and looked at Ziemer.
22:26The pilot was completely unresponsive.
22:29No movement.
22:30Barely breathing.
22:32Britton jumped down from the aircraft as the crash crews arrived.
22:35A medic started to climb toward the cockpit.
22:38Britton stopped him and pointed to the nose compartment first.
22:41Then he said the words that would become part of the legend.
22:44Get the pilot last.
22:46He's dead.
22:47But Ziemer wasn't dead.
22:48Not yet.
22:49The medics found Ziemer still strapped in the pilot's seat.
22:52His flight suit was soaked through with blood.
22:55His left leg hung at an unnatural angle, broken in two places.
22:59Shrapnel wounds covered both arms and his right leg.
23:02His pulse was barely detectable.
23:05They loaded him onto a stretcher and rushed him to the base hospital at Port Moresby.
23:09The doctors gave him 30% odds of surviving the night.
23:13While Ziemer was in surgery, intelligence officers examined old 666.
23:18They counted the damage systematically.
23:20Fifty-three bullet holes in the fuselage.
23:23Eighteen cannon shell impacts.
23:25The cockpit instrument panel destroyed.
23:28The oxygen system obliterated.
23:30The hydraulic lines riddled.
23:32The radio compartment torn open.
23:34The nose plexiglass shattered.
23:36Every square foot of the aircraft showed evidence of combat.
23:40Yet all four engines still ran.
23:42All control surfaces still functioned.
23:45The modifications had worked.
23:47The stripped weight.
23:48The new engines.
23:49The nineteen guns.
23:50Everything had performed exactly as Ziemer designed it.
23:54Then they counted the victories.
23:55Tracking the battle through crew reports and observed wreckage,
23:59intelligence confirmed five Japanese aircraft destroyed.
24:02Two zeroes shot down in the initial nose attack.
24:06One zero destroyed by tail gunner fire.
24:09One Dinah shot down by Sarnovsky before he died.
24:12One zero severely damaged and likely crashed on return to base.
24:17Unconfirmed reports suggested two additional kills, but intelligence couldn't verify them.
24:22Five confirmed was enough.
24:24Against seventeen attackers, the eager beavers had destroyed nearly 30% of the Japanese force.
24:29The photographs were more important than the kills.
24:32Kendrick's camera had captured every target.
24:35Empress Augusta Bay beaches, landing zones, defensive positions, reef systems, artillery emplacements.
24:42The images showed terrain features no previous reconnaissance had revealed.
24:46Intelligence officers spread the photographs across planning tables and began updating invasion maps.
24:51Within hours, the photos were on transport aircraft heading to South Pacific Command headquarters.
24:57Within days, they'd reach Admiral Halsey's planning staff.
25:01By evening of June 16th, the full scope of the mission became clear.
25:05Nine men in a single B-17 had accomplished what entire bomber squadrons had failed to do.
25:11They'd penetrated the most heavily defended airspace in the Southwest Pacific, photographed critical targets under continuous attack, fought off seventeen
25:19Japanese fighters, and returned with intelligence that would save thousands of American lives during the upcoming invasion.
25:26But the cost was severe.
25:28Sarnovsky dead.
25:29Sarnovsky dead.
25:29Zemer in critical condition with injuries that would take months to heal if he survived at all.
25:34Three other crew members wounded seriously enough to require hospitalization.
25:39The rest suffering from exhaustion and minor wounds.
25:42The most decorated crew in Pacific theater history, and half of them were in hospital beds.
25:47Zemer remained unconscious for three days.
25:50When he finally woke on June 19th, he learned that Sarnovsky was dead.
25:54The news hit harder than the shrapnel.
25:56They'd flown together since early 1943, built the eager beavers together, modified old 666 together, volunteered for every impossible mission
26:06together.
26:07Now Sarnovsky was gone, and Zemer was alive, and neither outcome seemed fair.
26:12The doctors told Zemer he'd never walk normally again.
26:15The left leg was too damaged.
26:17Nerve destruction.
26:18Bone fragmentation.
26:20Muscle tissue loss.
26:21Even with surgery and months of rehabilitation, he'd walk with a severe limp.
26:26He'd never fly combat again.
26:28His career as a pilot was over at 25 years old.
26:31But the mission wasn't over.
26:33500 miles north, Japanese commanders at Buka were trying to understand what had happened.
26:39Seventeen fighters had intercepted a single bomber.
26:41A standard engagement that should have resulted in an easy kill.
26:45Instead, they'd lost five aircraft, and the bomber had escaped.
26:49The Japanese pilots reported something they'd never seen before.
26:52A B-17 that fought like a gunship.
26:55Defensive fire from positions that should have been lightly armed.
26:58A nose-mounted gun the pilot could fire directly.
27:01This wasn't a normal reconnaissance aircraft.
27:04Word spread through Japanese intelligence networks.
27:07The Americans had modified their bombers, made them more dangerous, changed the equation.
27:13What had worked against B-17s in the past wouldn't work anymore.
27:17New tactics would be needed.
27:19New approaches.
27:20The battle over Buka had taught the Japanese that American ingenuity was more dangerous than they'd estimated.
27:25On July 8, 1943, Zeemer was promoted to major while still in his hospital bed.
27:32The paperwork for his Medal of Honor was already in process.
27:35The awards process moved faster than anyone expected.
27:38By late June 1943, 5th Air Force Command had submitted recommendations for every member of the eager beaver's crew.
27:46The mission met every criterion for the highest decorations.
27:50Extraordinary heroism.
27:52Decisive action under extreme danger.
27:54Strategic impact on the war effort.
27:57Results that would save American lives.
27:59For Zeemer and Sarnosky, Command recommended the Medal of Honor.
28:03For the seven surviving crew members, the Distinguished Service Cross.
28:07No American aircrew had ever received so many high-level decorations for a single mission.
28:12The recommendations went through channels quickly.
28:14By August, approval came back from Washington.
28:18The awards were confirmed.
28:19Zeemer spent the summer and fall of 1943 in military hospitals.
28:24First Port Moresby.
28:25Then Brisbane.
28:26Then stateside facilities as his condition stabilized enough for transport.
28:30The doctors worked on his left leg through multiple surgeries.
28:34They saved the limb, but couldn't restore full function.
28:37The nerve damage was too extensive.
28:39He'd walk with a permanent limp.
28:41His flying career was over.
28:42While Zeemer recovered, his photographs went to work.
28:46Admiral Halsey's staff used the images from old 666 to plan the Bougainville invasion down to individual landing beaches.
28:53The photos showed underwater reef systems that would have torn apart landing craft.
28:58Showed hidden artillery positions that could have slaughtered marines on the beaches.
29:02Showed terrain features that determined where supply dumps could be established.
29:05Every detail the eager beavers captured on June 16th became a data point in invasion planning.
29:12On November 1st, 1943, four months and fifteen days after old 666 photographed Empress Augusta Bay, the 3rd Marine Division
29:21stormed ashore at Cape Torachina.
29:2314,300 troops landed in the first wave.
29:27They expected heavy resistance based on intelligence estimates.
29:31Instead, they found the landing zones exactly as the photographs had shown them.
29:35Clear beaches, navigable approaches, defensive positions where predicted.
29:39The Marines established a beachhead within hours.
29:43By the end of November, American engineers had constructed three airfields within the secured perimeter.
29:48By December, those airfields were launching bomber strikes against Rabool.
29:52The entire operation succeeded because commanders knew the terrain before the first Marine hit the beach.
29:58The photographs Ziemer and his crew risked everything to capture had done exactly what they were supposed to do.
30:04They had turned a potentially catastrophic invasion into a calculated operation with acceptable losses.
30:10Thousands of Marines lived because nine men in a B-17 had flown straight into hell and brought back pictures.
30:16On January 6th, 1944, General Henry Arnold presented the Medal of Honor to Ziemer at a ceremony in the Pentagon.
30:24Ziemer stood at attention in his dress uniform, leaning heavily on a cane.
30:29His left leg still wasn't healed.
30:31It never would be completely.
30:33But he stood without assistance while Arnold read the citation.
30:37Conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty.
30:41The highest military decoration the United States could award.
30:44Six months later, on June 7th, 1944, Sarnosky's widow received his Medal of Honor in a ceremony at Richland Army
30:53Air Base.
30:54Posthumous.
30:55Awarded for the same mission, the same 40 minutes of combat.
30:59The same decision to complete the photo run, regardless of danger.
31:03Two Medals of Honor from one aircraft.
31:05One mission.
31:06The only time in World War II that two members of a bomber crew received the nation's highest decoration for
31:12the same action.
31:12The seven surviving crew members each received the Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor.
31:19Nine decorations for nine men.
31:22The most highly decorated air crew in American military history.
31:25The most highly decorated single mission ever flown.
31:29The records stood then.
31:30They still stand now, 80 years later.
31:33No crew has ever matched what the eager Beavers accomplished on June 16th, 1943.
31:39No mission has ever resulted in so many high-level decorations.
31:43The nine misfits, who rebuilt a cursed bomber and turned it into a flying fortress, had done something that would
31:49never be repeated.
31:50Zeemer received his final promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in April 1944, while still recovering from his wounds.
31:58On January 18th, 1945, he retired from the Army Air Forces on medical disability.
32:05He was 26 years old.
32:07Jay Zeemer returned to MIT in the fall of 1945.
32:10He completed a master's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1946.
32:14The same analytical mind that had failed pilot check rides before the war, now designed aircraft systems for major aerospace
32:22companies.
32:23He worked for Pratt and Whitney, then Raytheon.
32:26He spent decades engineering the machines he'd once flown into combat.
32:30In 1949, Zeemer married Barbara.
32:33They had five daughters.
32:35He rarely spoke about the war.
32:37Friends and colleagues often didn't know he'd received the Medal of Honor until years after meeting him.
32:42When asked about June 16th, 1943, he'd deflect.
32:47Talk about his crew instead of himself.
32:49Talk about the mission instead of the medals.
32:51He carried guilt about Sarnosky's death for the rest of his life.
32:55The bombardier had been three days from rotating home.
32:58Three days from safety.
33:00Zeemer believed Sarnosky had died in his place.
33:03In 1968, Zeemer retired and moved to Booth Bay Harbor, Maine.
33:07The same harbor where he'd built boats as a teenager.
33:10He spent his final decades there, rowing in the harbor, living quietly.
33:15He died on March 22nd, 2007, 88 years old.
33:19At the time of his death, he was the last living Medal of Honor recipient from the Army Air Forces
33:24in World War II.
33:26Old 666 survived the war longer than expected.
33:29After the June 16th mission, mechanics at Port Moresby spent two weeks repairing the damage.
33:35Fifty-three bullet holes patched.
33:37Eighteen cannon impacts reinforced.
33:40New instrument panel installed.
33:42Oxygen system rebuilt.
33:43Hydraulic lines replaced.
33:45By early July, the bomber was flying again.
33:48The modifications Zeemer's crew had installed remained.
33:51The nineteen guns stayed mounted.
33:53The stripped weight stayed off.
33:55Old 666 returned to the 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron and flew combat missions through the fall of 1943.
34:03In February 1944, the bomber was shipped back to the United States.
34:07Too many hours on the airframe.
34:09Too much accumulated damage.
34:11The Army Air Forces used it as a transport aircraft, then as a trainer for new bomber crews.
34:17In August 1945, old 666 was flown to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and sold for scrap.
34:24The most decorated bomber in American history was cut apart for aluminum.
34:28The other eager beavers scattered after the war.
34:31Most returned to civilian life.
34:33Some stayed in the military.
34:34All of them carried the memories of June 16th.
34:37The day they'd flown into hell and come back.
34:40The day they'd lost Sarnovsky.
34:42The day they'd become the most decorated crew in American military history.
34:47Today, the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, maintains an exhibit titled
34:53Tenacity Over Bougainville, Zeemer and the Eager Beavers.
34:57Photographs from the mission.
34:59Artifacts from old 666.
35:01The story of nine men who refused to accept that a reconnaissance mission was suicide.
35:06The story of modifications that shouldn't have worked, but did.
35:09The story of one flight that changed how the Army Air Forces thought about defensive armament.
35:15Nine misfits.
35:16One cursed bomber.
35:18Nineteen guns.
35:19Forty minutes against seventeen Japanese fighters.
35:22And every single man on that aircraft earned a medal that most soldiers never even see in their entire career.
35:27That story deserves more than just our attention.
35:30Hit that like button.
35:32One click tells YouTube to push this to someone who's never heard of the Eager Beavers.
35:36And that matters.
35:37Hit subscribe and turn on notifications.
35:40We dig through archives, old military reports, and veteran accounts to find stories exactly like this one.
35:47Crews nobody wrote about.
35:49Missions nobody remembers.
35:50People who changed the war from inside a cockpit, or a tank, or a trench.
35:55Now tell us something.
35:57Drop a comment.
35:58Where are you watching from right now?
35:59United States?
36:01United Kingdom?
36:02Australia?
36:03Germany?
36:03We've got people from over 60 countries watching these videos.
36:07That's not just a number.
36:08That's a community keeping these men alive.
36:10If someone in your family served, tell us about them.
36:13If this story reminded you of someone, let us know.
36:16Just say something.
36:18Let us know you're out there.
36:20Jay Zeemer never talked about what happened over Buka.
36:23He talked about his crew.
36:25So we'll do the same.
36:26Zeemer, Sarnoski, Britton, Johnston, Dillman, Vaughn, Pugh, Abel, Kendrick.
36:34Nine names.
36:36Remember them.
Comments