[music playing]
NARRATOR: February 16, 1944, dawn.
Waves of Hellcat fighters speed toward Truk Atoll.
Their mission-- destroy enemy shipping in the highly
defended Japanese stronghold.
25-year-old Lieutenant JG Alex Vraciu
flies with a division of 12 Hellcats
from the aircraft carrier Intrepid.
This was a mission that had us going against an enemy
that we weren't certain of, but we felt confident.
And I guess that's what a fighter
pilot is supposed to be, be confident,
or he can't do his job.
NARRATOR: Truk Atoll in the Caroline Islands
is Japan's main anchorage in the South Pacific.
They've been fortifying the atoll
with port facilities and runways since the end of World War I.
Truk was billed as almost impregnable, their version
of Gibraltar or Pearl Harbor.
And the propaganda was very strong that Truk would
be an incredibly tough fight.
NARRATOR: The barrier reefs that surround
Truk put the atoll out of range of the battleship's big guns.
The only way in is by air.
72 Hellcats from six carrier air wings
will swarm in to eliminate the enemy fighters.
KARL ZINGHEIM: This was going to be an attack of annihilation.
So what you're seeing with the Truk raid
is a systematic approach to taking
a substantial shore bashing and reducing it to nothingness.
NARRATOR: Pure fighter sweeps are rare.
Hellcat pilots are anxious for a raid unencumbered with bomber
escort.
ALEXANDER VRACIU: It was the first time
we didn't have to escort.
And we were just pure fighter, we'd call ourselves.
And as we got closer and closer to it,
and being in a plane that we knew we can handle,
I'll tell you quite honestly, we were looking forward to it.
NARRATOR: Vraciu and his wingman, Lou Little,
bring up the rear of their 12 plane formation.
As they fly the 90 miles from their carrier,
they stay low to avoid enemy radar.
Approaching the atoll, they climb to 13,000 feet.
The higher altitude gives them better visibility
and positions them for diving attack.
You want to have an altitude advantage
because altitude can be translated into air speed
with a dive.
NARRATOR: The enemy has scrambled fighters.
The Americans haven't spotted them yet.
Vraciu's flight noses over to start its strafing run
on the enemy airstrip.
First ten had already started their dive going down,
and we were just preparing to.
But I just took a look around back,
looked back over my shoulder, and that's when
my mind was quickly changed.
NARRATOR: There they are, 3,000 feet
above, a swarm of Japanese Zeros closing fast from 7 o'clock.
Vraciu radios the other Hellcats,
but they're already diving.
He must stay and fight.
I couldn't continue because then I
would have a stream of Zeros right behind us
while we were going down.
NARRATOR: Vraciu and Little are here.
The other Hellcats are here, diving.
The Zeros attacking from above.
If Vraciu dives, the Zeros will be
on his and the squadron's 6 o'clock,
perfect attack position.
His only option is to turn sharply into the enemy,
minimizing his cross section and reducing his time
in the Zeros' gun sights.
Vraciu and Little pull a hard left turn
and focus on the lead Zero.
He was already starting to shoot.
I could see the twinkle of the guns.
So I headed towards them and made a burst, a fast burst,
just to discourage him.
And he stopped his run and just kept going down.
They had a habit that they weren't afraid to attack.
But once they were countered, they dived down for the water.
NARRATOR: The first Zero darts away.
But immediately, another swings around on Vraciu's tail.
The Americans counter by pulling up into a steep chandelle.
They're relying on the Hellcat's superior power, large wing
area, and strong airframe to push
them through the high G maneuver and turn
the tables on the Zero.
The chandelle maneuver, it's basically a maneuver
to try and point your aircraft in another direction
in a fairly quick method.
Instead of just doing a level turn,
you actually pitch your nose up high, roll over on a wing.
And now you can use gravity, or what we like to call God's G,
to help you out in the turn, allow
you to pull your nose around faster
and point you in the other direction.
NARRATOR: The enemy cranks over hard, trying
to stay behind the Americans.
But the Zero can't hack the severe turn.
He stalls.
The Hellcats roll over and get behind the falling Zero.
They're primed for the kill.
But more Zeros speed in from above.
I had ideas to try to follow him,
but there were still some planes above me.
I had to get them out of my back.
DAVID M. KENNEDY: He doesn't want to be fighting anybody
that can be sitting up on a perch
2,000 feet above him, who can then instantly dive
down, pick up energy, and now have an advantage on him
on a turn.
So he wants to bring the whole fight down low, if possible,
to beat everybody down to the same state.
NARRATOR: Vraciu and Little must neutralize
the enemy's numerical and altitude advantage.
They snap into a classic defensive maneuver,
the thatch weave.
In the thatch weave, the two Hellcats
swing back and forth, providing mutual support and protection.
Frustrated by their inability to score decisive hits,
the Japanese move down to the Hellcat's altitude.
It's a fatal mistake.
The Americans break their defensive formation
and seize the advantage.
ALEXANDER VRACIU: Up until that time, we were purely defensive.
Once they came down to our level or below,
then we were able then to go on the offense.
NARRATOR: The Americans have skillfully turned the tables.
Now the Zeros are vulnerable to the powerful and highly
maneuverable Hellcats.
What ensues is the dogfight equivalent of a brawl,
and the winner determined by who can line up the first burst.
Vraciu turns hard on an attacking Zero.
The Japanese pilot dives to escape.
One of the favorite Japanese techniques,
if engaged in a defensive position,
was to try to dive away and try to head for the water.
NARRATOR: The technique worked with the Wildcat,
but not with the Hellcat.
Once he caught on fire, OK, he's gone down.
You're looking for another one.
You just go from one to the other
and hope you get a dozen of them.
NARRATOR: Vraciu draws a bead on a second Zero.
The enemy tries to dive away, but
the Hellcat easily catches him.
It's Vraciu's second kill of the day.
Then he spots a Rufe, a float plane version of a Zero.
Again, the enemy dives away.
Vraciu is relentless.
His job is to sweep the enemy from the sky.
And once I got on their tail, I didn't let go.
NARRATOR: Kill number three.
Vraciu spots another Zero at 12 o'clock low.
ALEXANDER VRACIU: I started to try to get in position,
but he wouldn't let me.
He kept ducking into a cloud.
NARRATOR: The Zero is running from cloud to cloud,
so Vraciu calls on a basic dogfighting tactic.
ALEXANDER VRACIU: I'm not going to let this SOB get away.
So I just pulled up and kept looking for him while he was
ducking in and out, and got in position to where
I figured he couldn't see me.
I pulled up into the sun and waited until I got a good shot,
and I came down on him from 5 o'clock.
I don't think he even know what hit him.
NARRATOR: Vraciu's 50-caliber armor-piercing rounds
slice into the Zero's wing tank and cockpit.
Vraciu's fourth kill of the day plummets in a flaming spiral.
The American fighter sweep continues throughout the day,
turning the skies above Truk into a swirling
vortex of gunfire and flame.
ALEXANDER VRACIU: There are loose fights
all over the place.
There were those planes going down one every 30 seconds.
This was a wild dogfight, a wild one.
NARRATOR: The Americans are unyielding.
The fierce combat costs the Japanese 130 planes in the air
and another 74 on the ground.