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With his elevator controls gone and instruments shattered, Ensign Albert Earnest faced a 200-mile flight back to Midway in a battle-damaged Avenger. His unlikely solution: use the trim tabs to keep the aircraft flying.
This World War II military history story follows Earnest’s attack on the Japanese fleet during the Battle of Midway, the loss of his gunner, and his perilous return with wounded radioman Harry Ferrier. It also remembers Torpedo Squadron Eight and the sacrifice behind a turning point in the Pacific War. Discover an extraordinary aviation survival story about improvisation, courage under fire, and the men who flew into overwhelming odds.
This World War II military history story follows Earnest’s attack on the Japanese fleet during the Battle of Midway, the loss of his gunner, and his perilous return with wounded radioman Harry Ferrier. It also remembers Torpedo Squadron Eight and the sacrifice behind a turning point in the Pacific War. Discover an extraordinary aviation survival story about improvisation, courage under fire, and the men who flew into overwhelming odds.
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00:00at 6.02 on the morning of june 4th 1942 ensign albert kyle ernest sat in the cockpit of a
00:07grumman
00:07tbf-1 avenger on midway island watching mechanics fuel a torpedo bomber that had never seen combat
00:1525 years old zero combat hours zero enemy kills behind him in the turret sat seaman first class
00:23jay manning age 20 below in the ventral position crouched radioman third class harry farrier 17
00:30years old the japanese had dispatched 108 aircraft to destroy midway that morning supported by four
00:37carriers and the entire combined fleet ernest tbf was aircraft 8 t1 bureau number zero zero three eight
00:46first aircraft off the grumman production line the tbf-1 avenger had arrived at pearl harbor six days
00:52earlier ernest and five other pilots from torpedo squadron 8 had flown them to midway three days ago
00:59the rest of vt-8 was somewhere at sea aboard uss hornet flying the obsolete tbd devastator ernest
01:06detachment had the new plane bigger faster nobody knew if that would matter lieutenant langdon feberling
01:13commanded the six-plane detachment at 32 the other pilots called him old langdon he'd briefed them two
01:20days earlier the japanese fleet was coming four carriers battleships cruisers the entire keto butai
01:27that had struck pearl harbor midway had 52 combat aircraft to stop them three american carriers waited
01:34somewhere north if midway fell pearl harbor was next at 555 a truck raced down the flight line marines were
01:42shouting enemy carriers bearing 320 degrees 150 nautical miles out launch everything ernest started
01:50his engine the right cyclone radial roared to life he'd never dropped a live torpedo none of them had
01:57except feberling six tbf avengers lifted off midway at 600 hours no fighter escort the marine wildcats were
02:05already scrambling to defend the island ernest flew behind feberling manning test-fired his turret gun
02:11farrier checked his ventral gun and radio they climbed to 8 000 feet and turned northwest nothing but
02:18water for 150 miles by 1942 torpedo bombing had become a suicide mission you had to fly low straight slow
02:30the japanese knew this their zero fighters were faster than anything america had at coral sea one month
02:37earlier american torpedo squadrons had been slaughtered most torpedo bomber crews didn't survive their first
02:44attack at 0 7 10 ernest saw the japanese fleet four massive carriers in formation battleships cruisers
02:53destroyers and above them black specks diving toward the six american planes zero fighters too many to count
03:02feberling dove toward the carriers the other five avengers followed ernest pushed his stick forward
03:09manning opened fire farrier was firing from below tracers were everywhere the first tbf exploded in midair
03:18the second tumbled into the sea then the third then the fourth ernest saw feberling's plane spiral down
03:26five avengers gone in less than three minutes ernest was alone zeros were coming from three directions
03:3420 millimeter cannon fire punched through his windshield glass shrapnel hit his neck blood ran down inside his
03:40flight suit his instrument panel exploded the compass stopped working manning's gun went silent farrier came on
03:49the intercom manning was hit bad maybe dead farrier himself was wounded ernest was 200 feet above the
03:58water he opened his bomb bay doors and released his torpedo at the nearest cruiser and missed more cannon
04:04fire tore through the fuselage his elevator controls went dead the stick wouldn't respond the avenger should
04:11have crashed instead it kept flying level if you want to know whether ernest survived the flight back to
04:18midway please hit that like button every like helps youtube share this story with more people and
04:25please subscribe if you haven't already back to ernest he was still taking fire bullets hitting the armor
04:31plate behind his seat his hydraulics were shot one landing gear wheel wouldn't extend no compass no air
04:38speed indicator no altimeter no radio manning was definitely dead blood everywhere in the turret
04:45the right engine was still running and when he adjusted his elevator trim tabs the aircraft responded
04:51not much just enough to gain altitude and turn slightly he was controlling a three-ton aircraft with trim
04:58tabs designed for fine adjustments ernest nursed the crippled tbf into a cloud bank the zeros broke off
05:05they assumed he was finished he flew east by dead reckoning following the morning sun if he missed midway
05:12the next land was pearl harbor 1200 miles away he had maybe two hours of fuel one wheel no instruments
05:21a dead gunner a wounded radio men and 73 bullet holes he didn't know about yet ernest flew at 2000
05:29feet
05:29inside the cloud the tbf shuttered with every adjustment of the trim tabs the big cyclone engine was running rough
05:36but it was running that was all that mattered he had no way to check his fuel the gauge was
05:42destroyed
05:42along with everything else on his instrument panel he estimated he'd burned maybe half his fuel getting
05:48to the japanese fleet and attacking that left him roughly 90 minutes maybe less 200 miles back to midway
05:55he had to find it the pacific ocean covered 64 million square miles midway atoll was two square miles of
06:03coral
06:03and sand miss it by five miles and he'd never see it he'd run out of fuel and ditch in
06:09the ocean with one
06:10wheel down the tbf would cartwheel and break apart on impact he and farrier would have maybe 30 seconds
06:17before it sank farrier's voice came through the intercom he was conscious again he'd been knocked out
06:23by the same 20 millimeter shell that killed manning blood was running down from the turret into his position
06:29he couldn't tell if it was manning's blood or his own he was wounded but he could move he tried
06:35to
06:35see into the bomb bay through the small window to confirm the torpedo was gone but manning's blood
06:40covered the glass ernest told farrier to stay on the intercom he needed to know someone else was alive
06:47the solitude at 2000 feet with a dead crewman behind him and instruments that looked like a junkyard was
06:54making it hard to think farrier acknowledged his voice was weak but steady the trim tabs were designed
07:01to make tiny adjustments during level flight ernest was using them to control pitch and maintain altitude
07:07when he adjusted the tab nose down the aircraft descended nose up it climbed but the response was slow
07:16sluggish if he overcorrected the tbf would enter a dive or climb he couldn't recover from he had to think
07:23five seconds ahead of every adjustment his rudder still worked that gave him directional control he
07:30could turn but every turn bled off airspeed and altitude he had to keep the turns gentle the aircraft
07:37was barely controllable in straight flight a hard turn would probably kill him at 0 7 45 he broke out
07:45of the
07:46clouds the sun was higher now still east he corrected his heading slightly farrier asked if they were going to
07:53make it earnest didn't answer he didn't know the flight back was taking longer than the flight out
07:59he was flying slower more cautious the tbf was damaged in ways he couldn't see control surfaces were
08:07probably shot up the airframe had taken dozens of hits something could fail at any moment a fuel line
08:14could rupture the engine could seize the tail could fall off he was flying a dying aircraft and hoping it
08:21would last 30 more minutes at 0 8 20 he saw smoke on the horizon black smoke midway was burning
08:30the
08:31japanese strike had hit the island while he was attacking their carriers he corrected his heading
08:36toward the smoke the island came into view 10 minutes later sand buildings runway he'd found it now he had
08:45to
08:45land on one wheel with no hydraulics no flaps no speed control the marines on midway had just been bombed
08:54they'd be trigger happy ernest had no radio to announce his approach he had to follow the emergency
09:01procedure for damaged aircraft a specific flight pattern with specific turns if he didn't execute it
09:07perfectly the anti-aircraft guns would shoot him down half a mile from safety and if he survived that he
09:14still had to land a three-ton aircraft on one wheel using only trim tabs at 120 miles per hour
09:21on a
09:22runway probably cratered by japanese bombs ernest circled midway at 1500 feet the runway was intact the
09:29japanese had hit fuel tanks in buildings but missed the runway he could see fires burning across the island
09:35smoke drifted south he began the emergency approach pattern left turn straight leg right turn
09:43straight leg the specific sequence that told ground forces he was friendly and damaged anti-aircraft
09:50gunners tracked him but held fire they recognized the pattern one of their own was coming home
09:57ernest completed the sequence and turned onto final approach the runway was 6 000 feet long plenty of
10:03distance but he had one wheel and no flaps normal landing speed for a tbf was 75 knots without flaps
10:11he'd be coming in at over 100 knots fast very fast he adjusted the trim tabs to descend the nose
10:20dropped
10:20slightly the tbf began losing altitude 300 feet 200 100 the island was rushing toward him he could see
10:31marines running toward the runway ambulances fire trucks they knew what was coming 50 feet the right main
10:39gear was down and locked the left gear was stuck retracted when the right wheel touched the aircraft
10:45would pivot left and cartwheel standard procedure was to land as slowly as possible and try to keep
10:51the wing up as long as possible but ernest didn't have that option he was coming in hot with almost
10:58no
10:58control 20 feet he adjusted the trim tabs to level off the tbf settled toward the runway the right wheel
11:06touched concrete at 0944 the aircraft bounced came down again the right gear held the left wing dropped
11:16ernest fought to keep it up using rudder and trim the wing tip scraped the runway sparks flew the propeller
11:23was still turning if the left wing dug in the aircraft would flip the tbf slewed left ernest kept the
11:31rudder
11:31hard right the tail swung around the aircraft spun 90 degrees and stopped engine still running ernest shut
11:40it down silence he sat in the cockpit for three seconds he was alive on the ground at midway marines
11:51surrounded the aircraft medics climbed onto the wing they pulled open the canopy ernest tried to stand but
11:57his legs wouldn't work they lifted him out blood covered his flight suit his neck wound had bled for
12:0390 minutes he pointed to the turret manning was up there they needed to get manning two medics climbed
12:10to the turret they looked inside and climbed back down one of them shook his head ernest already knew
12:16he'd known since 0715 when manning's gun went silent ferrier was pulled from the ventral position
12:24he was conscious wounded but walking 17 years old and he just survived what nobody should survive
12:31ground crews examined the tbf they started counting bullet holes seven in the engine cowling 15 in the
12:38fuselage 20 in the wings 30 in the tail section they stopped counting at 73 64 hits from 7.7
12:48millimeter
12:48machine guns nine hits from 20 millimeter cannons the elevator control cables were severed the hydraulic
12:55lines were cut the compass was destroyed one propeller blade had a bullet hole through it a photographer
13:01arrived bureau number zero zero three eight zero needed to be documented first tbf avenger in combat only
13:10survivor of six flew 200 miles with no elevator control landed on one wheel the aircraft would be
13:17shipped to pearl harbor for examination engineers needed to understand how it stayed airborne ernest
13:23was taken to the base hospital doctors removed glass fragments from his neck the wound wasn't deep but
13:29he'd lost blood they cleaned it and bandaged it he'd be fine physically but five pilots were dead jay
13:37manning was dead 15 more vt-8 pilots had launched from hornet that morning in tbd devastators none of them
13:45came back except ensign george gay who was picked up from the ocean the next day torpedo squadron 8 had
13:51sent 21 aircraft into combat on june 4th 48 men three survived ernest farrier gay 45 dead 94 casualties the
14:04highest loss rate of any american squadron in any single action in the entire war and the battle wasn't over
14:11yet american dive bombers were still attacking the japanese carriers the outcome of the entire pacific
14:17war was being decided while ernest sat in a hospital bed on midway by noon on june 4th the outcome
14:24of
14:24the battle of midway was clear american dive bombers from enterprise in yortown had caught three japanese
14:30carriers with their decks full of armed aircraft akagi kaga and soryu were burning a fourth carrier
14:37hear you was hit that afternoon and sank the next day japan had lost four fleet carriers in one day
14:44the backbone of the keto butai was broken the carriers that had struck pearl harbor were gone
14:49the sacrifice of torpedo squadron 8 had made it possible the six tbfs from midway attacked first
14:56then 15 tbd devastators from hornet then torpedo planes from enterprise in yorktown all three attacks
15:03failed to score a single torpedo hit but they pulled the japanese fighter cover down to sea level
15:08they forced the carriers to maneuver constantly they prevented the japanese from launching their own
15:14strike and while the zeros were busy destroying torpedo planes at wave top height american dive bombers
15:19arrived at altitude unopposed vt-8 had bought that window with blood 45 men dead 21 aircraft destroyed
15:28zero torpedo hits but they changed the course of the war ernest remained in the hospital on midway for
15:34two days admiral chester nimitz flew in from pearl harbor on june 5th to inspect the island and meet
15:40with survivors he visited ernest in the hospital the admiral asked what happened ernest told him the launch
15:47the attack manning killed the flight back on trim tabs alone the landing nimitz listened without
15:54interrupting when ernest finished the admiral was quiet for several seconds then he said ernest's
16:01return flight was an epic in combat aviation the words weren't casual praise nimitz had commanded
16:08submarines in world war one he'd seen combat he knew what was routine and what was extraordinary
16:15flying 200 miles with no elevator control and landing on one wheel was extraordinary two weeks later
16:22the navy announced ernest would receive two navy crosses for june 4th the first for pressing home
16:28his attack against overwhelming opposition the second for bringing his aircraft and crew back to midway
16:35two navy crosses in one day for one mission almost unprecedented the citations were approved before
16:43the damaged tbf had even reached pearl harbor for inspection ferrier also received the distinguished flying
16:49cross and the purple heart he'd been wounded but stayed conscious he'd helped ernest by confirming
16:55systems and providing whatever information he could from his position 17 years old and decorated for valor
17:03but the awards meant little compared to the losses lieutenant feberling was dead the five other tbf
17:09pilots were dead their gunners and radio men were dead 18 men total from the midway detachment and from hornet
17:17lieutenant commander john waldron was dead every pilot and crewman from his 15 tbds was dead except george gay
17:27vt-8 had been effectively annihilated the squadron was reconstituted in july new pilots new aircraft new
17:35crews the rebuilt vt-8 was assigned to uss saratoga and sent to the solomon islands the marines had
17:43landed on guadalcanal in august japanese forces were counter-attacking the navy needed every torpedo
17:50squadron in the pacific ernest went with them he'd survived midway but the war wasn't over he was 25 years
17:58old with three months of combat experience the navy needed experienced pilots men who'd seen action
18:05and lived men who knew how to survive ernest was now one of the most experienced torpedo bomber
18:12pilots in the pacific fleet in september and october 1942 vt-8 flew missions from saratoga and later from
18:19henderson field on guadalcanal ernest flew strike missions against japanese cruisers and destroyers
18:25he bombed shore installations he attacked transports the aircraft were better the tactics were better
18:31the avenger was proving itself as the best torpedo bomber in the war but the missions were still
18:37dangerous japanese fighters were still faster anti-aircraft fire was still deadly on september
18:4316th ernest was part of a strike force that put a torpedo into a japanese cruiser on october 9th he
18:50led
18:50a flight that bombed enemy positions at cape esperance the missions added up the risks added up by november
18:57the jungle and exhaustion had broken most of vt-8 the squadron was withdrawn and disbanded for the
19:02second time ernest had earned a third navy cross three in six months but the question nobody could
19:09answer was how long his luck would hold ernest flew his last combat mission from henderson field on november
19:1512th 1942 six months after midway the squadron had lost more pilots and crews at guadalcanal not as
19:23catastrophically as june 4th but steadily one plane lost here two pilots killed there the cumulative
19:31effect was the same by november vt-8 was exhausted the survivors were rotated back to the united states
19:39ernest's combat record was extraordinary three navy crosses multiple strike missions zero aircraft lost
19:46under his command after midway he'd proven that june 4th wasn't luck he was simply one of the best
19:52torpedo bomber pilots in the navy calm under fire excellent judgment able to make decisions when
19:59everything was going wrong those were the qualities that kept pilots alive the navy recognized it instead
20:05of giving ernest a desk job they made him an instructor new torpedo bomber pilots needed to learn from someone
20:12who'd survived someone who could teach them what worked and what got you killed ernest spent 1943
20:18training the next generation of naval aviators he taught them how to approach a target how to evade
20:25fighters how to survive when your aircraft was damaged how to fly on instruments that weren't there anymore
20:31but ernest didn't stay an instructor forever the navy needed experienced combat pilots for new missions
20:37after the war in the pacific ended in august 1945 ernest remained in the navy he joined in 1941
20:44expecting to serve a few years but naval aviation was his career now he was good at it the navy
20:51needed men
20:51like him in the years after the war ernest flew different missions hurricane reconnaissance weather
20:58observation search and rescue the navy was adapting to peacetime operations but still needed skilled pilots
21:06ernest flew b-17s modified for hurricane hunting flying into storms that would destroy most aircraft reading weather patterns
21:14saving lives by providing early warnings it wasn't combat but it was dangerous work that required
21:20the same skills situational awareness calm decision making ability to handle damaged aircraft he was
21:29promoted steadily lieutenant lieutenant commander commander captain each promotion brought more responsibility
21:38he commanded squadrons he commanded air stations in the 1960s he was given command of naval air station
21:46oceana in virginia one of the largest naval air stations on the east coast thousands of personnel
21:53hundreds of aircraft the boy who'd flown a shot-up avenger back to midway was now responsible for an entire
22:00air
22:00station ernest retired from the navy in 1973 31 years of service he'd seen the navy transform from propeller driven
22:10torpedo bombers to supersonic jets from 1942 when america was losing the war to 1973 when america had the
22:19most powerful navy in the world he'd been part of that transformation after retirement ernest rarely spoke about midway
22:27other veterans from the battle became famous george gay wrote a book and appeared on television he was
22:34called the sole survivor of torpedo squadron 8 ernest and farrier joked that they were the other sole survivors
22:41but ernest didn't seek publicity he'd done his duty that was enough the battle of midway remained the defining
22:49moment of his life june 4th 1942 the day he lost friends the day he flew an aircraft that shouldn't
22:57have stayed airborne the day he learned what he was capable of when everything was falling apart
23:03those 90 minutes from the japanese fleet back to midway had tested him in ways nothing else ever would
23:10historians later studied the battle they analyzed every decision every attack every loss
23:17the sacrifice of torpedo squadron 8 was recognized as crucial to the american victory the three torpedo
23:24attacks pulled japanese fighters out of position they prevented the japanese counter-strike they created the
23:30window for dive bombers to attack unopposed 45 men dead but four japanese carriers sunk the turning point of the
23:39the pacific war tbf avenger bureau number zero zero three eight zero was eventually retired from service
23:48the aircraft that had been first off the production line and survived 73 bullet holes was displayed in
23:54museums a reminder of what could be survived with skill and determination a reminder of the price paid at midway
24:03harry ferrier also made the navy his career the 17 year old radioman who'd survived midway continued flying
24:10combat missions through the rest of the war he flew with vt-3 and later returned to vt-8 when
24:17the squadron was
24:18reconstituted again he saw action in the eastern solomons and throughout the pacific campaign he was
24:24commissioned as an ensign in 1945 and retired as a commander in 1970 25 years of service like earnest
24:33he rarely sought attention for what happened on june 4th the two men stayed in contact after the war
24:40they understood something nobody else could what it felt like to be the only survivors what it meant to
24:46watch five aircraft explode in three minutes what it took to fly 200 miles in a dying aircraft
24:54they didn't need to talk about it often they just knew over the decades military historians became
25:00increasingly interested in the battle of midway it was studied at the naval war college analyzed in staff
25:06colleges written about in books and documentaries the tactical decisions the intelligence breakthrough
25:12that revealed japanese plans the timing that put american carriers in position the luck that put dive
25:19bombers over the japanese fleet at exactly the right moment and always the sacrifice of the torpedo
25:26squadrons vt-8 from hornet and midway vt-6 from enterprise vt-3 from yorktown 51 torpedo bombers launched
25:3635 shot down 89 men killed not a single torpedo hit but the japanese fighters were drawn down the carriers
25:45were forced to maneuver the counter-strike was delayed the dive bombers arrived unopposed military
25:51analysts called it the most one-sided tactical exchange in naval aviation history 89 men killed
25:58for zero direct results but strategically it was decisive without those torpedo attacks
26:04the dive bombers might have faced the full japanese combat air patrol the battle might have ended
26:09differently the war might have lasted years longer ernest understood this better than most he'd been there
26:16he'd seen feberling go down he'd seen the other four tbfs explode he'd flown through the debris of
26:22aircraft that had been intact 30 seconds earlier he knew the sacrifice wasn't wasted but knowing didn't make
26:29it easier in the 1990s and 2000s ernest occasionally attended midway commemorations he met younger naval
26:36aviators they asked questions about the battle about the tbf about flying on trim tabs about landing on one wheel
26:44he answered them matter-of-factly no dramatization no embellishment just what happened some historians
26:51asked why he never wrote a book like george gay did ernest's answer was simple he'd done his job
26:57that was all writing a book would have felt like seeking credit for something 45 other men paid for with
27:03their lives he didn't want that the tbf avenger became one of the most successful naval aircraft
27:09of world war ii over 9 000 built used by the navy and marines throughout the pacific reliable tough
27:17effective the disaster at midway was its combat debut but not its legacy the avenger went on to sink
27:25dozens of japanese ships and submarines it proved the design was sound the tactics just needed refinement
27:32bureau number zero zero three eight zero became a symbol of that toughness 73 hits and it flew home
27:40engineers who examined it at pro harbor couldn't fully explain how the elevator cables were severed
27:46the hydraulics were destroyed fuel lines were punctured but sealed themselves the wright cyclone engine
27:52had taken seven hits but kept running it should have been impossible but impossible was a word that didn't
27:59apply on june 4th 1942 impossible was staying in formation while five aircraft around you exploded
28:06impossible was flying 200 miles with no instruments impossible was landing on one wheel at 120 miles per
28:13hour ernest had done all of it in 90 minutes and then spent the next 31 years serving quietly without
28:20expecting recognition albert kyle ernest died on october 27 2009 he was 92 years old 67 years after midway he
28:31was buried at arlington national cemetery with full military honors three navy crosses 31 years of service
28:38one of the last survivors of torpedo squadron eight harry ferrier outlived him by seven years he died in may
28:452016 at age 90 also buried with honors the last two survivors of the midway tbf detachment were gone
28:53but what they represented remained courage under impossible circumstances duty when survival seemed
29:00unlikely the willingness to fly into hell because someone ordered you to and because your country needed
29:05you to the story of june 4th 1942 survived because people remembered veterans associations preserved records
29:13historians interviewed survivors the navy maintained documentation photographs of bureau number zero zero
29:21three eight zero were archived the bullet riddled tbf became evidence of what could be survived military
29:28aviation changed dramatically after world war ii jet engines replaced propellers missiles replaced
29:34torpedoes carriers grew larger aircraft grew faster but the fundamental lessons remain the same
29:41training matters discipline matters courage matters the ability to function when everything is going
29:48wrong matters most of all young naval aviators in the 21st century still study the battle of midway
29:55they analyze the tactical decisions the communication failures the coordination problems why hornets air
30:01group flew the wrong heading why torpedo squadrons attacked without fighter escort why american torpedoes failed
30:08so often the mistakes are studied so they won't be repeated but they also study what went right the
30:15intelligence breakthrough that revealed japanese plans the positioning of american carriers the decision to
30:20launch strikes immediately despite incomplete information the bravery of pilots who attacked knowing they
30:27probably wouldn't survive those decisions won the battle ernest's flight back to midway is used as a case study in
30:34aviation
30:34survival how he maintained control using only trim tabs how he navigated without instruments how he executed
30:41the emergency landing procedure perfectly despite catastrophic damage flight instructors use his example to teach
30:48student pilots what's possible when you don't panic the 73 bullet holes are particularly instructive
30:54they show where a tbf avenger could take damage and keep flying the engine could absorb multiple hits the wings
31:01could be riddled and maintain lift the tail could be shredded and still provide stability but the elevator
31:07control cables were vulnerable one good burst in the right place and the pilot lost pitch control
31:13ernest survived because he understood he could use trim tabs as backup controls most pilots wouldn't have
31:18thought of that most wouldn't have had the skill to execute it modern aircraft are more resilient
31:24redundant systems backup controls computer assisted flight but they're also more complex more things
31:31can fail pilots still need the fundamental skills ernest had situational awareness ability to improvise calm
31:39decision-making under pressure those skills don't change regardless of technology the sacrifice of torpedo
31:45squadron 8 is commemorated every year on june 4th ceremonies at naval air stations moments of silence
31:51names read aloud 45 men who died attacking the japanese fleet three who survived the ratio tells the story
32:00better than any words vt-8 received two presidential unit citations one for midway one for guadalcanal the
32:08only squadron to receive that honor twice in world war ii the citations are displayed at the national naval
32:13aviation museum in pensacola florida next to them are photographs of the pilots young men most in their 20s
32:21some like farrier still teenagers they look confident in the photos ready they had no idea what was
32:28coming museums preserve the physical evidence aircraft uniforms medals photographs but the real
32:35preservation happens when the story is told when someone explains what happened on june 4th why six tbf
32:42avengers attacked without fighter cover why five were shot down in three minutes why the sixth flew 200 miles
32:48home on trim tabs alone why it mattered the story matters because it shows what human beings are capable
32:55of not superheroes not movie characters real people a 25 year old pilot who'd never been in combat
33:03a 17 year old radio man who'd lied about his age to enlist a 20 year old gunner who died
33:09in his turret
33:09they were ordinary people who did extraordinary things because their country needed them to
33:15that's why the story survives not because it's about technology or tactics but because it's about
33:21people who faced impossible odds and refused to quit people who watched their friends die and kept flying
33:30people who flew damaged aircraft 200 miles because going down wasn't acceptable people who sacrificed
33:37everything so others could live every generation needs to hear these stories not to glorify war but to
33:45understand what previous generations endured what they sacrificed what they made possible the world we live
33:53in today exists because people like ernest and farrier and manning flew into hell on june 4th 1942
34:01because they did their duty even when survival seemed impossible because they refused to fail even when
34:08failure seemed certain the japanese shot albert ernest plane 73 times they killed his gunner they wounded
34:16his radio man they destroyed his instruments they severed his control cables they should have killed him
34:23but they didn't and the reason they didn't tells us something important about human capability it wasn't the
34:31aircraft that survived bureau number 00380 was a machine metal and wires and fuel it should have crashed into
34:40the pacific the right cyclone engine should have seized after taking seven hits the airframe should have broken
34:47apart after absorbing 66 more the laws of physics and engineering said the tbf shouldn't have made it back
34:55but ernest wasn't bound by those laws he found a way when his elevator controls failed he used trim
35:02tabs when his instruments died he navigated by the sun when his hydraulics were shot he landed on one wheel
35:10he adapted he improvised he refused to accept that survival was impossible that's the lesson not that
35:19war is glorious not that sacrifice is easy but that human beings have the capacity to overcome impossible
35:26circumstances when they refuse to quit when they stay calm when they think clearly despite fear and pain
35:33and chaos when they do their duty regardless of cost torpedo squadron 8 paid a terrible price on june 4th
35:421942
35:4345 men killed families destroyed futures erased lieutenant feeberling never saw his 33rd birthday
35:52jay manning never came home to washington 14 other pilots from the midway and hornet detachments died that morning
36:00their sacrifice bought six minutes six minutes when japanese fighters were out of position six minutes that
36:08let american dive bombers attack unopposed six minutes that changed the war was it worth it the men who died
36:17can't answer that question the three who survived carried it for the rest of their lives ernest lived 67 years
36:25after midway farrier lived 74 years they both served their country for decades they both built families and
36:33careers they both died old men but june 4th 1942 never left them the sound of manning's gun going silent
36:43the sight of five tbfs exploding the 90 minutes flying home wondering if they'd make it
36:49they made it and because they did we know the story we know what happened at midway we know the
36:58price that
36:58was paid we know what human beings are capable of when everything is falling apart modern naval aviators
37:06still study this mission they analyze how ernest maintained control how he navigated without instruments
37:12how he executed an emergency landing procedure under impossible conditions his flight is taught at flight
37:19schools as an example of what can be survived with skill and determination the lessons go beyond
37:25aviation they apply to anyone facing impossible circumstances stay calm assess your options use
37:33whatever tools you have left improvise adapt never accept that failure is inevitable earnest had trim tabs
37:42most people have something the question is whether you can recognize it and use it when everything else has
37:49failed that's why this story matters 83 years later not because of the technology not because of the
37:56tactics but because it shows what one person can do when quitting isn't an option when the aircraft
38:03is dying and the instruments are gone and you're 200 miles from safety you find a way or you die
38:11trying
38:13albert ernest found a way and his story reminds us that we can too if this story moved you the
38:20way it
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38:34day stories about pilots who save lives with trim tabs and determination real people real heroism drop a
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39:06you're here thank you for watching and thank you for making sure albert ernest doesn't disappear into silence
39:14these men deserve to be remembered and you're helping make that happen