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It was June 16th, 1943.
Unescorted and vulnerable, a lone Boeing B-17E drones over the remote Solomon Sea.
This 4-engine Flying Fortress is now commonly known as “Old 666”,
thanks to its original tail number that ended in 666.
Onboard, 25-year-old Captain Jay Zeamer Jr. and eight crewmen
enjoy a few minutes of calm in their armored warbird.
Previously it had been an old piece of junk
that’d been dragged to the end of the airstrip to be cannibalized for spare parts
before being commandeered by Zeamer.
“She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.”
He made a lot of special modifications himself.
Old 666 was a demon in the air.
The crew up gunned the old bird so much
that it seemed almost comical
and it became the most heavily armed bomber in the Pacific.
Zeamer was loved by his men, as top turret gunner Johnnie Able later explained,
“We thought so much of Captain Zeamer and had such trust in him and his ability
that we didn’t give a damn where we went,
just so long as he wanted to go there.
Anything ok by him was ok by us."
The men are on a tough mission.
A solo mapping run over the Island of Bougainville in the Solomons.
No escort, no formation.
Just them.
And in a classic “while you’re at it boys...” moment,
command told them that they’d need to also make a pass over
the strategically important and incredibly well-defended Buka Island too.
Now over Buka, the captain and crew see a dozen A6M Zeros
taking off from the airstrip on the island.
Then what looks like another 12 take flight!
It’s just a matter of time before their 1.000 horsepower Nakajima radial engines
bring them in close to the lumbering B-17.
Reaching altitude, the Japanese fighters circle menacingly just outside of gun range.
But this B-17 is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,
and with a little luck the Japanese pilots won’t figure it out until it’s too late.
The crew have upgraded the number and caliber of guns.
Old 666 is a 19 gun flying beast of a machine
and even the captain has a 50 calibre at his disposal.
The Zeros make their move.
From dead ahead one starts in and towards the winged battleship,
the closing speed between the two is approaching 700 miles an hour.
Zeamer is first and unleashes a hail of .50 calibre rounds
that knocks the Zero out of the sky,
but fractions of a second later a wall of cannon fire from another
tears into the nose and cockpit.
The blast and concussion send shrapnel into the arms and legs of 2nd Lieutenant Joseph Sarnoski.
Through with incredible bravery, determination and resolve,
Sarnoski crawls back to his gun and takes aim and shoots.
His last act is to destroy another Zero, before succumbing to his injuries.
Captain Zeamer is now severely wounded in both legs,
and worse yet the rudder pedals have been destroyed,
but all the while the Zeros keep coming
as the gunners blast away at anything with wings,
sending torrents of high-velocity tracer rounds
through the white-hot barrels and towards the enemy.
Then another Zero scores a direct cannon hit on the B-17,
this time destroying the instrument panel,
more vital controls and the all-important oxygen system.
Dazed, bloodied, battered and fighting to stay conscious,
Zeamer drops the nose and takes the 666 to just below 15.000 feet
where the crew can breathe,
but the faster and more agile Zeros follow the shattered bomber down,
all the while diving and strafing.
The seemingly overwhelmed crew continue to battle on for nearly an hour!
Time’s ground to a halt,
but the old Boeing and crew lumber on through the chaos.
While in a last ditch effort to bring her down once and for all,
five Japanese pilots fan out more than a thousand yards off the nose and make a final pass
letting loose with everything they’ve got.
Within range, guns ablaze on both sides, they swarm at,
then past the B-17, filling it with holes before finally calling off the attack.
Low on fuel the 666 manages to turn slowly west and heads for home.
Just over eight hours after the mission began, ripped open like an old sardine can,
cables and wires dangling through the gaping holes in the fuselage and wings,
Old 666 landed back in New Guinea.
Ground crews leaped into action to assist.
Inside the cockpit it's a terrible scene.
Zeamer is initially pronounced dead,
but to everyone’s amazement the brash young pilot still has some life left in him,
but the others aren’t so lucky.
Six of the nine crewmen including Lt Sarnoski succumbed to their injuries.
Zeamer and Sarnoski are each awarded the Medal of Honor
and the remaining crew each receive a Distinguished Service Cross.
Zeamer recovered from his wounds and lived a long and healthy life.
Rumor has it that what was left of the Old 666 wound up back in the US in 1944,
where some say it spent the remainder of its days in a New Mexico scrapyard.
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