"Does anyone see the enemy aircraft?"
It's the 8th of May, 1942.
"It's clear, nothing except clouds. Over."
High in the sky off the coast of Papua New Guinea,
eight SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers scan the sky in search of a suspected attack
from Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bombers.
"Lieutenant, do you see anything from your side?"
"It's clear. Over."
In the American formation Pilot Lieutenant Stanley Vejtasa looks over his shoulder
and spots very different beasts.
Nine lethal and deadly A6M Zeros.
"Shotai 2 - take the left side! Shotai 3 - take the right side!"
"Bandits! Six o'clock."
"Okay, gentlemen, this is it. Let's go."
He plunges his Dauntless into a dive as pandemonium breaks out behind him.
"Zero is coming in from behind. We're hit!"
Looking back, he sees three of his peers engulfed in flames and the rest are about to be next.
He pushes on, but despite making the distance he knows they haven’t escaped.
His Dauntless is extremely outclassed in terms of speed, maneuverability and firepower.
"Swede! A Zero is turning towards us!"
"Confirmed! Hold on!"
Out of options, Vejtasa turns his Dauntless to face the enemy head on.
In this moment he gets an idea.
The two aircraft face each other down, coming closer and closer.
In the Dauntless Vejtasa pulls on the trigger early, firing a burst of 50 caliber bullets in a Hail Mary attack.
The Japanese pilot fires back.
The volley of deadly 20mm shells streaks across the sky, aimed at the nose of the Dauntless,
but they narrowly zip past to the right of Vejtasa’s cockpit.
Vejtasa has evaded them.
He’s banking slightly to the left, keeping the nose pointing at the enemy
even as they turn, drifting across the air.
The Zero roars past, missing every round.
"Come on, Frank! He's all yours!"
Vejtasa’s rear gunner opens fire, letting out a burst before the Zero manages to escape from his arc of fire.
In the cockpit Vejtasa is shocked.
It worked!
This time.
In the distance, the enemy turns back for another run.
Second Zero is coming in from behind!
And then, a third Zero appears up ahead,
the already impossible matchup getting even worse.
Vejtasa’s mind is racing,
he has worse guns, worse speed, worse maneuverability, and no backup.
Then he gets another idea.
"Take a deep breath, Frank! We're about to pull some Gs!"
He engages the air brakes, slowing right down to a crawl.
Vejtasa knows that speed is essential in dogfighting.
The first enemy approaches straight on.
Vejtasa opens fire.
But his prayers go unanswered.
"Hit him! Let’s finish him!"
The Japanese aviator unleashes his 20mm cannons,
sending a volley of deadly shells flying for the American bomber.
Simultaneously, Vejtasa pulls his aircraft hard to the left.
The two crew are crushed into their seats,
the Dauntless reaching incredible 10Gs,
disappearing from the Zero’s crosshair in the nick of time.
The enemy flies past.
"Take him from the back!"
"Do the same move as before. I'll try to get him!"
Vejtasa spots an opportunity.
He continues with his turn,
the seconds feeling eternal as his blood rushes down to his feet.
The twin 50 caliber machine guns rip with fury, striking the enemy from behind.
The Japanese pilot is taken completely by surprise and his tail is peppered with lead.
"You bastard!"
The bullets punched clean through the fuselage and a plume of black smoke pours out of the fighter,
forcing the enemy to turn for home.
"Zero is down!"
Vejtasa and his gunner don't have any time to celebrate before the first Zero comes back guns ablaze.
"Let’s finish him!"
7.7mm fire pings and crackles into the fuselage as Vejtasa dodges to the side,
and the Japanese fighter roars past.
He hardly gets the time to breathe before the third Zero bursts into the scene from above
unleashing a full volley at the lone dive bomber.
"Frank, hold on!"
Vejtasa flies his Dauntless perfectly under the Zero, coaxing the Japanese pilot into a full vertical dive.
But the enemy pilot isn't a fool,
he knows such a thing could make his wings rip from excessive speed, and he pulls off the attack.
But they're far from done.
"He is too smart! Cover me!"
Both Zeros make a wide turn and line back up on the slow, lumbering bomber.
"I have the American in my sights! Ready to strike!"
With the enemies rapidly approaching Vejtasa once more sends his machine into a series of punishing turns,
pulling excessive G forces over and over.
Disoriented, Vejtasa checks his plane.
The Americans evade for their lives,
the G forces so severe that the rear gunner has no chance to fire,
constantly getting thrown left and right inside the aircraft.
The two enemies somehow attack from every direction,
"We are hit!"
their great speed and maneuverability making them feel like they’re everywhere.
Up, down, left, right. Attacks are coming from everywhere at a relentless pace.
Vejtasa escapes from every single one.
The crazy gamble is working,
the Dauntless might be heavy and roll slowly but it pulls like a beast.
The Zero’s lightness that makes it so nimble now works against them.
"Take him from the back!"
Vejtasa knows he's on borrowed time.
The enemy fire zips by uncomfortably close, the sonic booms of the 20mm rounds announcing the danger.
"Swede! We're hit!"
"He is below! Change position!"
"Come on Frank!"
"I can't aim! He's too low!"
"You bastard! Take him in a pincer move!"
The Japanese are growing frustrated.
This bomber should’ve been done for ages ago!
One of the Zeros charges the bomber and once again misses.
The American is slithering out of his crosshairs at the last second yet again.
Impatient, he doesn’t bother making distance and immediately turns back around for another run.
Vejtasa spots the opportunity.
"I don’t see him! Is he in my blind spot?"
He swiftly pulls the aircraft towards his target and opens fire,
catching the Zero unaware.
The bullets punch clean through the enemy’s thin fuselage
"I’m hit!"
and the Zero goes down in smoke and flame.
There’s a glimmer of hope. Just one enemy remains,
but he’s not likely to make the same mistake.
"He's coming in from behind!"
"Frank, hold on!"
Vejtasa pulls hard in evasive maneuvers,
but unlike every time before, the Zero doesn’t roar past.
He looks over his shoulder and sees the Zero hounding his tail.
The enemy pilot has given up on lightning attacks and is trying to match his low speed.
Vejtasa keeps turning hard, far beyond what the Zero can match,
exerting himself and the aircraft to its limits.
But the enemy hounds him and the Dauntless drifts right into his crosshairs.
But... the Zero doesn't shoot.
The dance continues, the Zero getting closer, but inexplicably he refuses to fire.
"Why doesn't he shoot?"
Then, Vejtasa is hit with the realization.
"Looks like he's out of ammo and trying to ram us!"
He punches the throttle to full and tries to race away from the determined enemy,
but the faster Zero catches up with him with ease, getting right up to the American’s tail.
And then the Zero opens fire.
"Bastard! That was a trick!"
The Zero unleashes its firepower straight into Vejtasa’s wings and tail,
he looks back wondering why his gunner isn’t opening fire
"Frank, are you okay?"
and sees him slouched over,
passed out from the G forces!
Vejtasa immediately breaks right and re-engages the airbrakes,
desperately trying to make the Zero overshoot.
But the Japanese pilot sees it coming.
He cuts the throttle as his Zero comes uncomfortably close to the American.
Without air brakes, he almost overshoots,
resorting to left and right maneuvers to help bleed more speed and starting a scissor.
Vejtasa also enters the scissor,
both to evade his enemy’s crosshairs and in a desperate attempt to make the Zero overshoot.
Neither succeed.
They are stuck flying side by side, locked in an aerial ballet.
They turn towards each other, dodging the other’s line of fire.
The two machines roar past dangerously close,
Vejtasa almost being able to see the Japanese pilot's face.
They crisscross repeatedly in the sky each time getting closer and closer.
The stick is ripped from Vejtasa’s hands and pieces of aircraft fling off into the air.
For a split second Vejtasa believes he’s done for,
but he instinctively gets hold of the stick and incredibly discovers that his aircraft can still fly.
"Oh my God!"
"Swede, you did it!"
Then he looks down and is surprised to see the Zero diving away with a trail of smoke.
"Did we win?"
"I can't believe we survived it!"
He looks around and finds nothing. The skies are clear.
Somehow, through incredible luck, knowledge, and raw skill,
he and his gunner have defeated impossible odds.
Lieutenant Stanley Winfield Vejtasa would receive his second Navy Cross for his actions.
The event was so unbelievable,
his superiors decided to offer to move him to a fighter aircraft,
an opportunity that Vejtasa gladly accepted.