Lucky 666
Page 31
All told, the Americans: Ibid., p. 63.
Despite reports of Australian: Johnston, Whispering Death, p. 276.
Allied aircraft had dropped: Prados, Islands of Destiny, p. 254.
When Emperor Hirohito learned: Ibid., p. 255.
He also ordered a shake-up: Ibid., p. 256.
And as one of Adm. Yamamoto’s: Griffith, MacArthur’s Airman, pp. 111–12.
The New York Times hailed: New York Times, March 6, 1943.
And MacArthur’s description: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, p. 206.
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea: Cohn, “Z Is for Zeamer,” p. 69.
From that moment on the two: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
CHAPTER 21: THE FLIGHT OF THE GEISHAS
Seasoned pilots knew that the first: 43rd Bomb Group Official History.
But, as Jay noted: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
The flight began as a simple: Zeamer letter to Victoria.
One day the squadron pooled: Benefield memoir excerpt (chapter 4).
It was just “bad luck”: Sarnoski letter to Victoria.
By reporting that the bomber: Ibid.
“But they gave up on us”: Ibid.
This, Jay insisted: Warwick Zeamer interview.
Joe, however, liked to tease: Cohn, “Z Is for Zeamer,” p. 22.
CHAPTER 22: OLD 666
Although it was less than a year old: “Old 666: Fantastic Voyage of the Cursed Bomber,” p. 1.
The aircraft may have resembled: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Then, just as he had: Ibid.
“We did what the kids”: Ibid.
Half of them, he wrote: Ibid.
Allied war planners took some: “Expansion to Air Power” documentary.
In a cruel irony: http://thefedorachronicles.com/worldwar2/menin/menin_metcalf.html.
No other B-17 carried: Scher, “Death Took a Holiday.”
CHAPTER 23: THE OUTLAWS
Jay was hit particularly hard: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 102.
As a fellow bomber pilot: Rembisz, “Wings of Valor,” p. 7.
Jay also recalled how he had personally: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 104.
But Lindsey continued to wrestle: Ibid.
Yet one visiting reporter: Cohn, “Z Is for Zeamer,” p. 22.
As he later told a friend: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 104.
Despite its added armament: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
To prove this, Jay could not resist: Ibid.
“The airplane was faster than”: Ibid.
The next morning the crew: Ibid.
“You couldn’t keep them”: Rembisz, “Wings of Valor,” p. 7.
Most COs on the front lines: Cicala, “The Most Honored Photograph,” p. 2.
It was the United States: https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/law/lawreviews/journals/bciclr/26_1/01_TXT.htm.
John Wilkes Booth notwithstanding: https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/law/lawreviews/journals/bciclr/26_1/01_TXT.htm.
Yet the U.S. Army’s World War II: https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/law/lawreviews/journals/bciclr/26_1/01_TXT.htm.
The churchmen gave the attack: Drury and Clavin, Halsey’s Typhoon, p. 11.
CHAPTER 24: NO POSITION IS SAFE
It was the lead plane: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
A week later, on a daylight patrol: Ibid.
That was his cue to throw: Ibid.
Yet never one to leave: Ibid.
The raid elicited an unusual congratulatory: 43rd Bomb Group Official History.
This did not stop the officers of the 90th: Gamble, Target: Rabaul, p. 87.
Emblematic of the outfit’s proficiency: 43rd Bomb Group Official History.
And there was no use waiting: Costello, The Pacific War, p. 375.
As one American Airman noted: Drea, U.S. Army Center of Military History brochure, 1991.
Cooper was to adventure: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, p. 240.
“Coop,” Kenney wrote: Ibid.
CHAPTER 25: NEW ADDITIONS
American intelligence knew that: Wukovits, Admiral “Bull” Halsey, p. 160.
He stressed that between: Newark News, January 11, 1944.
He guessed that the odds: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 17.
It was about to be tacked: Zeamer YouTube interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGt8gQulPcM.
All he asked was that: Ibid.
Jay’s superiors were not surprised: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
By now his unorthodox: Ibid.
As his fellow Pennsylvanian: Pugh letter to Sarnoskis.
They were no longer amiable: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
An insight into Joe’s mind-set might: Sarnoski letter to Agnes.
CHAPTER 26: “HELL, NO!”
What appeared to be the worst damage: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 17.
Within seconds every searchlight: Ibid., p. 105.
Jay took in the parallel rows: Ibid.
No one, however, could sleep: “Richmond Wife of Slain Aviator Receives Award,” p. 24.
American bomber pilots knew: www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt09/japanese-antiaircraft.html.
Jay lifted the phone back: Beck, “Jay Zeamer Downplays WWII Heroism,”
“I’m only doing the”: Zeamer YouTube interview.
Jay was so riled by the request: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
There was little precedent: Drea, U.S. Army Center of Military History brochure.
As a subsequent report: Ibid.
Jay had flown more than 45 combat: King, “Some First Hand Observations on Combat Stress.”
Jay knew that once a pilot: Gamble, Fortress Rabaul, p. 294.
So as each of his men: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
CHAPTER 27: BUKA
“unsleeping Eye of the earth”: Robinson Jeffers, “The Eye.”
Jay had time to ponder the wonders: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
As Johnnie Able later explained: Old 666 crew statement, July 1943.
Or, as Jay heard the collective response: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
From five miles above the rutted: Ibid.
Below him he counted more: Cartwright, “Zeamer Maintains He Was Just Doing His Job.”
Questions flooded his mind: Ibid.
Nor did he know that their Japanese: Gamble, Target: Rabaul, p. 77.
For a split second Jay: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
CHAPTER 28: “GIVE ’EM HELL!”
The pilot of a lone Boeing: Flying Unit Combat Action Report, September 9, 1943.
After ten minutes Kendrick’s voice: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Jay held his course steady: Old 666 crew statement, July 1943.
He gurgled, “I’m all right”: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
CHAPTER 29: THE DESPERATE DIVE
Suddenly filling his mind: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Staring into her eyes: Ibid.
His bucket seat was open to the sky: Ibid.
For a brief instant Jay thought his eardrums: Ibid.
He had never felt such pain: Ibid.
One more big hit, he knew: Ibid.
CHAPTER 30: GET IT HOME
The blood from his head: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
The enemy pilots had also learned: Air Information Bulletin, July 14, 1943.
He had convinced his crew: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
They would have to intuitively: Crosshairs Humphreys, “By Resolute Defense,” p. 27.
After 40 minutes and 100 miles: Old 666 crew statement, July 1943.
Yoshio Ooki’s subordinate: Rembisz, “Wings of Valor.”
Under the circumstances: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 106.
Still, given Old 666’s shot-up: Ibid.
This structural modification was credited: Hillenbrand, Unbroken, p. 85.
CHAPTER 31: “HE’S ALL RIGHT”
A moment later Dillman emerged: Old 666 crew statement, July 1943.
> He handed Jay a scrap of paper: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Jay managed a grunt: Old 666 crew statement, July 1943.
“I don’t move”: Rembisz, “Wings of Valor.”
Then Joe closed his eyes: New York Times, August 10, 1943.
“He’s all right”: Old 666 crew statement, July 1943.
CHAPTER 32: DOBODURA
Britton would later explain: Britton, Oral History.
Jay was not sure where he was: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Then, more clearly, a husky whisper: Ibid.
Jay wanted to shout: Ibid.
In their simple elegance: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, p. 259.
EPILOGUE
When he awoke in the base hospital: Zeamer letter to Victoria.
Kendrick, Britton, Pugh, and Dillman: Ibid.
Three days later, as the mourning family: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
A few weeks later, Pudge Pugh: Pugh letter to Sarnoskis.
“It seemed almost an entrenched”: Prados, Islands of Destiny, p. xv.
The eminent naval historian Bruce Gamble: Gamble, Target: Rabaul, p. 230.
The Japanese hung on in the town: Gamble, Fortress Rabaul.
Finally, in February 1944: 43rd Bomb Group Official History.
Though it technically remained: “Old 666: Fantastic Voyage of the Cursed Bomber.”
Old 666 was chopped up: Ibid. See also Humphreys, “By Resolute Defense,” p. 26.
Now, Cooper wrote of the final flight: Newark Evening News, July 22, 1946.
“This reminded me more”: Beck, “Jay Zeamer Downplays WWII Heroism.”
Jay Zeamer Jr. was one of only nine: Scher, “Death Took a Holiday,” p. 34.
A local reporter who interviewed: Ibid.
That attitude had been encapsulated: Newark Evening News, January 11, 1944.
Joe’s father, John, was not home: Jim Rembisz interview.
There, as Jay put it: Scher, “Death Took a Holiday,” p. 34.
Although he enjoyed golf, tennis: Newark Evening News, July 22, 1946.
“I have to skip”: Scher, “Death Took a Holiday,” p. 34.
Late in life Jay also lost: Geoffrey Zeamer interview.
He was officially credited with shooting: Youngstown Vindicator, November 1943.
Typical of Vaughan’s droll responses: Ibid.
Thirty years earlier: Sarnoski letter to Agnes.
“Agnes, I want you to know”: Ibid.
In the same letter Pudge: Ibid.
Now, three decades later: Turner, “Bartender Stirs Memories of WWII Mission.”
AFTERWORD
As he once told his wife: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
“I didn’t know he was here”: Rembisz, “Wings of Valor.”
Then, his voice cracking with emotion: Arana-Barradas, “President Honors Pacific War’s Fallen Heroes.”
“You can always find a way”: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 17.
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ARTICLES
Arana-Barradas, Master Sgt. Louis A. “President Honors Pacific War’s Fallen Heroes,” Air Force News, September 1995.
Ball, Charles B. “ ‘You Can Always Find a Way to Do Anything,’ ” Boston Traveler, April 3, 1967.
Beck, Robin. “Jay Zeamer Downplays WWII Heroism That Earned Him the Medal of Honor,” Boothbay Register, June 10, 1993.
Cartwright, Steve. “Zeamer Maintains He Was Just Doing His Job,” Kennebec Journal, June 16, 1993.
Cohn, Art. “Z Is for Zeamer,” Liberty Magazine, January 15, 1944.