NARRATOR: May 8, 1942, Lieutenant Swede Vejtasa
in an SBD Dauntless dive bomber is dog-fighting
three Japanese Zero fighters, something
it was never designed to do.
Two enemy Zeros have Swede locked in from in front
and behind, but now a third is diving on him from 3 o'clock
high.
The Zero dives on Swede as he jinks
aggressively to fend off attacks from the other two Zeros.
The Japanese unleash hundreds of rounds,
some slice through Vejtasa's fuselage.
The top SBD keeps flying.
Supreme mastery of his aircraft has kept Swede alive.
But in the tight turns, he fights to keep his hands
and feet at the controls.
At times, his body weighs over 1,000 pounds.
SWEDE VEJTASA: I was jerking that airplane
and pushing it hard, diving wide open.
And same thing on negative Gs, positive Gs.
DIRK COOPER: So as Lieutenant Vejtasa
is fending off these attacks from the Zeros,
he's just aggressively maneuvering
his aircraft, which is going to put
a lot of forces on the body.
A lot of Gs positive and negative.
So seat in the pants and then floating in your straps,
followed by slips kicking around the cockpit.
NARRATOR: The violent turn stymie the enemy attacks.
But in the back seat, the rear gunner cannot fire.
Near blacking out in the 9 G turns,
he can barely keep his head up, much less aim his 30 cal.
The problem being he's strapped in,
and the maneuvers were so violent
that he couldn't swing the gun.
He couldn't get into position.
DIRK COOPER: So fending off multiple attacks, basically,
he's just trying to force those Japanese Zeros
into making a mistake.
NARRATOR: The mistake Swede is looking
for is in the Zero's turn.
After each head-on pass, the enemy pilot must
make an extremely tight turn.
If it's too loose, Swede's own turn will
put him on the Zero's tail.
The maneuvers continue, and Swede
waits for a moment to strike.
The fight has gone on for an agonizing 17 minutes.
In the high G turns, his heart pounds in his chest,
struggling to pump blood to his extremities,
his muscles ache against the physical exhaustion of combat.
Vejtasa must go on the offensive.
SWEDE VEJTASA: On one particular [inaudible],,
he went out a little bit farther,
and I was able to pull up on his tail.
NARRATOR: It's a fatal mistake.
Vejtasa pounces.
SWEDE VEJTASA: And I felt I got a pretty good burst on it.
[bullets whirring]
I see at this time, he's smoking.
So I figured it must have hit him.
NARRATOR: Swede Vejtasa has gotten
in a lethal counter-punch, but there's
still two Zeros in the air.
One screams in for another vertical pass.
As the enemy pilot pulls up out of his dive,
Swede sees an opening and goes for it.
He pitches up, bringing his guns to bear.
I was able to pull up into almost a vertical
and he was close at hand.
He's at an angle, and he's making a turn up there.
And I came up practically on his beam, and I got in a good burst
on him, and then I'd stalled and dropped away.
NARRATOR: Vejtasa recovers from the stall.
The burning Zero falls from the sky,
barely missing the SBD as it plunges towards the sea.
After evading repeated Japanese attacks
with two bold maneuvers, Vejtasa has almost evened the odds.
Only one Zero remains.
SWEDE VEJTASA: This was a fight to the death.
He was out to kill me and I wanted to get him.
NARRATOR: Vejtasa in his slow dive bomber is here.
The agile Zero is here, wheeling around
on Vejtasa for a final decisive head-on pass.
SWEDE VEJTASA: He turned around and he came back at me.
And I thought at this time, he'd been
firing so many times, that guy must be out of ammunition.
NARRATOR: But Vejtasa is wrong.
The Zero is still lobbing cannon shells at the SBD.
He skids left, dodging the Zero's lethal fire.
SWEDE VEJTASA: But he kept coming.
I knew at that time he had intended to crash me.
NARRATOR: The suicidal Japanese pilot barrels in,
bent on ramming Swede's SBD.
SWEDE VEJTASA: At the last moment, I jerked the airplane,
went into a vertical, and then rolled back.
And as I rolled back, there was a tremendous clap as we passed.
I knew I saw something fly off.
And I thought, my God, I lost an aileron.
NARRATOR: Miraculously, Vejtasa has survived a midair
collision with the Zero.
DIRK COOPER: You would think that two aircrafts closing
at those speeds-- probably combined closure rate
of almost 500 miles an hour.
And then any parts of the aircraft touching,
you'd think it would be catastrophic for both aircraft.
As it turns out, the ruggedness of the SBD
ripped apart the Japanese Zero.
SWEDE VEJTASA: I turned back on his tail and he's smoking.
And he dove into the cloud about 1,000 feet below,
and he disappeared.
That was the end of the dogfight.
[bullets whirring]
NARRATOR: After knocking out three Zeros
with a lone dive bomber, Swede Vejtasa lands
back on the Yorktown a hero.
He is awarded the Navy Cross for his actions.
DIRK COOPER: Well, we often say in this business
that we stand on the backs of giants.
And no kidding, Lieutenant Vejtasa is one of those giants
to be able to execute the feat that he executed that day.