Col John R. Kane MOH

 

When I started research on this man's story, I thought this was going to be another Ploesti story.  While Ploesti was a significant episode in his career, it's not the only high heart rate mission he had flown.  So, we'll get started.

Source

He received his commission and wings in the early 1930's and in 1940 commanded a squadron in my neck of the woods, Lackland AFB San Antonio.  Many of you readers may have stories to tell about your time there.

Anyhow....After the WWII started he was sent to the Mediterranean Theater of Operation.  He flew 43 combat sorties for a total of 250 combat hours, commanding the 98th Bombardment Group, a B-24 unit.  That's a lot of combat. An intercepted German message reported to him that the Germans had nicknamed him "Killer Kane".  For some reason, he accepted that with gratitude.

He received a Distinguished Flying Cross after leading a mission to Naples in 1942 where he and his unit sank a Cruiser and a Battleship.  He later received a Silver Star while leading his unit on a mission.  He was attacked by a BF-110.

Source

Though his tail and top turrets were inoperative (my source does not say why) he as able to avoid hits by the fighter until it ran out of ammunition after 8 passes his bomber and it returned to its base.  Upon returning to Col Kane's base, an inspection of his aircraft had little appreciable damage.

Pretty darn good flying, I'd say!

But the mission which earned him the Medal of Honor was dubbed Operation Tidal Wave. This was the low level bombing raid on the oil plants at Ploiești Romania. As many of you history buffs will remember this was a disastrous raid with 53 aircraft and 500 men were lost for little damage to the target.  It was back up and running within a few weeks.

Col Kane led his squadron on this mission, and elected to circle the target area helping other bombers get oriented.  Evidently there was a lot of smoke obscuring it.

Source

 See what I mean?

Anyhow, this decision used up his reserve fuel and he was forced to land on Cyprus. 8 Days later he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Yeah, I'd say he's a warrior!

Source 

 

He continued his Air Force career and commanded several bases.  He retired in 1954 and passed away in 1996 at 89. 

 

Source

Rest in Peace, Warrior! 

Citation for the Award of the Medal of Honor to Col John R. Kane

For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 Aug 1943. On this date he led the third element of heavy bombardment aircraft in a mass low-level bombing attack against the vitally important enemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. En route to the target, which necessitated a round-trip flight of over 2,400 miles, Col. Kane’s element became separated from the leading portion of the massed formation in avoiding dense and dangerous cumulous cloud conditions over mountainous terrain. Rather than turn back from such a vital mission he elected to proceed to his target. Upon arrival at the target area it was discovered that another group had apparently missed its target and had previously attacked and damaged the target assigned to Col. Kane’s element. Despite the thoroughly warned defenses, the intensive antiaircraft fire, enemy fighter airplanes, extreme hazards on a low-level attack of exploding delayed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires and explosions and dense smoke over the target area, Col. Kane elected to lead his formation into the attack. By his gallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill, he and the formation under his command successfully attacked this vast refinery so essential to our enemies’ war effort. Through his conspicuous gallantry in this most hazardous action against the enemy, and by his intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, Col. Kane personally contributed vitally to the success of this daring mission and thereby rendered most distinguished service in the furtherance of the defeat of our enemies.

 

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Kane

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ploie%C8%99ti 

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/operation-tidal-wave-why-the-1943-raid-on-ploesti-oilfields-failed-to-diminish-the-supply-of-fuel-to-germany-and-its-allies/ 

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/colonel-john-r-kane/ 

 

 

 

 

Captain James P. Fleming MOH

 

Source

Well...as one may surmise, this Medal of Honor recipient survived the engagement where he earned the Medal.  He deserved it as you will come to realize.  Wikipedia has an excellent summary of that mission.  Much more detail than in this posting.

Source

During his 30 year military career, Colonel Fleming had also been awarded the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross and eight Air Medals. The missions for these are summarized here.

Source

 

He was born in 1943.  Wikipedia says his age is 83 which means this hero is still with us.
 

 Citation for the Award of the Medal of Honor to Captain James P. Fleming

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Fleming (then 1st Lt.) distinguished himself as the Aircraft Commander of a UH-1F transport Helicopter. Capt. Fleming went to the aid of a 6-man special forces long range reconnaissance patrol that was in danger of being overrun by a large, heavily armed hostile force. Despite the knowledge that 1 helicopter had been downed by intense hostile fire, Capt. Fleming descended, and balanced his helicopter on a river bank with the tail boom hanging over open water. The patrol could not penetrate to the landing site and he was forced to withdraw. Dangerously low on fuel, Capt. Fleming repeated his original landing maneuver. Disregarding his own safety, he remained in this exposed position. Hostile fire crashed through his windscreen as the patrol boarded his helicopter. Capt. Fleming made a successful takeoff through a barrage of hostile fire and recovered safely at a forward base. Capt. Fleming's profound concern for his fellowmen, and at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country. 

 

Sources

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Fleming 

2) https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/26-november-1968/ 

3) https://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient/recipient-1626/   (3 separate rescue operations under heavy fire)

Lt Edward Michael MOH

 

Ok, I found a lot of good information on this MOH Recipient.  The author did an outstanding job of summarizing the mission on which the Medal of Honor was earned by Lt Edward S Michael.  I'm not going to summarize it,  too much detail would be lost, so go ahead and read it.  I'll be here when you get back. 

Lt Michael 

Source

 

 

 

A B-17 in trouble, talk about cojones! These guys had them and they clanked when they walked! 

Source

 

 The B-17 was a tough aircraft.  Below is a picture of  Lt Michael's actual aircraft, needless to say she never flew again, but she had done her duty.

 

Source

This is the epitome of “Never Give Up, Never Surrender”.  While that's a line from "Galaxy Quest" a comedy movie, there's a lot of truth in it.  I believe the Lieutenant would have agreed. He followed that statement to the max.

 For that effort, he was awarded the Medal of Honor and received it from President Roosevelt.

Source

 

Citation

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Edward Stanley Michael, United States Army Air Forces, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Pilot of a B-17 aircraft with the 364th Bombardment Squadron, 305th Bombardment Group (H), Eighth Air Force, on a heavy-bombardment mission to Stettin, Germany, 11 April 1944. The group in which First Lieutenant Michael was flying was attacked by a swarm of fighters. His plane was singled out and the fighters pressed their attacks home recklessly, completely disregarding the Allied fighter escort and their own intense flak. His plane was riddled from nose to tail with exploding cannon shells and knocked out of formation, with a large number of fighters following it down, blasting it with cannon fire as it descended. A cannon shell exploded in the cockpit, wounded the copilot, wrecked the instruments, and blew out the side window. First Lieutenant Michael was seriously and painfully wounded in the right thigh. Hydraulic fluid filmed over the windshield making visibility impossible, and smoke filled the cockpit. The controls failed to respond and 3,000 feet were lost before he succeeded in leveling off. The radio operator informed him that the whole bomb bay was in flames as a result of the explosion of three cannon shells, which had ignited the incendiaries. With a full load of incendiaries in the bomb bay and a considerable gas load in the tanks, the danger of fire enveloping the plane and the tanks exploding seemed imminent. When the emergency release lever failed to function, First Lieutenant Michael at once gave the order to bail out and seven of the crew left the plane. Seeing the bombardier firing the navigator’s gun at the enemy planes, First Lieutenant Michael ordered him to bail out as the plane was liable to explode any minute. When the bombardier looked for his parachute he found that it had been riddled with 20-mm. fragments and was useless. First Lieutenant Michael, seeing the ruined parachute, realized that if the plane was abandoned the bombardier would perish and decided that the only chance would be a crash landing. Completely disregarding his own painful and profusely bleeding wounds, but thinking only of the safety of the remaining crewmembers, he gallantly evaded the enemy, using violent evasive action despite the battered condition of his plane. After the plane had been under sustained enemy attack for fully 45 minutes, First Lieutenant Michael finally lost the persistent fighters in a cloud bank. Upon emerging, an accurate barrage of flak caused him to come down to treetop level where flak towers poured a continuous rain of fire on the plane. He continued into France, realizing that at any moment a crash landing might have to be attempted, but trying to get as far as possible to increase the escape possibilities if a safe landing could be achieved. First Lieutenant Michael flew the plane until he became exhausted from the loss of blood, which had formed on the floor in pools, and he lost consciousness. The copilot succeeded in reaching England and sighted an RAF field near the coast. First Lieutenant Michael finally regained consciousness and insisted upon taking over the controls to land the plane. The undercarriage was useless; the bomb bay doors were jammed open; the hydraulic system and altimeter were shot out. In addition, there was no airspeed indicator, the ball turret was jammed with the guns pointing downward, and the flaps would not respond. Despite these apparently insurmountable obstacles, he landed the plane without mishap. 

 A lot more good information can be found here.  On the wings of angels!

 

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_S._Michael 

https://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient/recipient-765/ 

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/edward-stanley-michael/

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/edward-s-michael 

https://homeofheroes.com/heroes-story/edward-s-michael/ 

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/11-april-1944/  

By US government/DoD/USAF - https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/edward-stanley-michael/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89218343

 

 

 

A1C William H Pitsenbarger, MOH

 

This is a somewhat updated repost.  I wrote this post in 2015. Since I'm doing daily Medal of Honor postings it seems to be okay for me to repeat.  Made a few corrections or found additional data which I included.

 

As I've mentioned, I am very interested in Military History and specifically the heroes therein. I also decided to focus on the ones that weren't as famous as Richard I Bong or Eddie Rickenbacker.  I'll get to them later.   Along those lines, I've resuscitated this post. It's the story of the lowest ranking Air Force Medal of Honor Recipient, Airman 1st Class William H. Pitsenbarger.

Source

 Here's his citation:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Airman First Class Pitsenbarger distinguished himself by extreme valor on 11 April 1966 near Cam My, Republic of Vietnam, while assigned as a Pararescue Crew Member, Detachment 6, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. On that date, Airman Pitsenbarger was aboard a rescue helicopter responding to a call for evacuation of casualties incurred in an ongoing firefight between elements of the United States Army's 1st Infantry Division and a sizeable enemy force approximately 35 miles east of Saigon. With complete disregard for personal safety, Airman Pitsenbarger volunteered to ride a hoist more than one hundred feet through the jungle, to the ground. On the ground, he organized and coordinated rescue efforts, cared for the wounded, prepared casualties for evacuation, and insured that the recovery operation continued in a smooth and orderly fashion. Through his personal efforts, the evacuation of the wounded was greatly expedited. As each of the nine casualties evacuated that day was recovered, Airman Pitsenbarger refused evacuation in order to get more wounded soldiers to safety. After several pick-ups, one of the two rescue helicopters involved in the evacuation was struck by heavy enemy ground fire and was forced to leave the scene for an emergency landing. Airman Pitsenbarger stayed behind on the ground to perform medical duties. Shortly thereafter, the area came under sniper and mortar fire. During a subsequent attempt to evacuate the site, American forces came under heavy assault by a large Viet Cong force. When the enemy launched the assault, the evacuation was called off and Airman Pitsenbarger took up arms with the besieged infantrymen. He courageously resisted the enemy, braving intense gunfire to gather and distribute vital ammunition to American defenders. As the battle raged on, he repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to care for the wounded, pull them out of the line of fire, and return fire whenever he could, during which time he was wounded three times. Despite his wounds, he valiantly fought on, simultaneously treating as many wounded as possible. In the vicious fighting that followed, the American forces suffered 80 percent casualties as their perimeter was breached, and Airman Pitsenbarger was fatally wounded. Airman Pitsenbarger exposed himself to almost certain death by staying on the ground, and perished while saving the lives of wounded infantrymen. His bravery and determination exemplify the highest professional standards and traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Air Force."

As I read through that, I thought to myself, how could I NOT have known about him?  Then I looked at the date the Medal was awarded, December of 2000.  I'd been out of the AF for a couple of years, still trying to get situated in my civilian life.  I'll cut myself some slack on this one.

 

Source

Anyhow.  Googling his name, got me to this site.  It's a detailed interview of the survivors of the firefight and their description of AIC Pitsenburger's (Pits) actions.  You're going to have to go and read that one yourself.  There is no way, short of cutting and pasting the entire article, that can capture the detail therein.  As Sarge says, I'll wait.

If that didn't bring tears to the eyes and chill to the bones, I don't know what would.

To me, this said it all

"...Pitsenbarger’s descent into the firefight ‘was the most unselfish and courageous act I ever witnessed. I think of him often now,’ he added. ‘That thing never leaves my mind totally. He did actually give up his life for guys on the ground that he didn’t even know. And he didn’t have to be there. I know he made the conscious decision to stay there.’Salem said that Pitsenbarger had volunteered to go to the ground because the soldiers were having trouble putting a wounded man into the wire basket to be lifted out. The helicopter pilot recalled telling Pitsenbarger that he could leave the chopper only if he agreed that, when given a signal, he would return to the aircraft. ‘As we were [getting in position], I said, ‘Pits, it’s hotter than hell down there; do you still want to go down?’ He said, ‘Yes sir, I know I can really help out.’ He made a hell of a difference. We ended up getting nine more out after he got on the ground. He is the bravest person I’ve ever known,’ Salem said."

 

Source

So, why did it take 34 years for this hero to receive the recognition that he obviously truly deserved?  Interservice rivalry?  Politics?  Standard Bureaucrat mindset?  Who knows. I'm gonna say "Yes all the above."  I'm just glad it happened and there are people like him in the military.

I stand in awe.

2nd Lt. John C. Morgan MOH

 Well, brace yourselves campers, this may be the most challenging Medal of Honor mission, I've read so far and I've read several. Talk about "Never give up, Never surrender"! 

The subject today is  2nd Lt. John C. Morgan, a co-pilot in B-17s in Europe. He went to several colleges but never graduated from one.  As such when he went to volunteer for the Army Air Force he was turned down.  Working on a drilling platform, he broke his neck and was declared 4F by the draft.  He then went to Canada and enlisted in their Air Force and then was posted to Bomber Command in England as a Sergeant Pilot. Flew missions with the RAF for a couple of years and then the US Army Air Force, in 1943, knew they needed experienced combat pilots so invited him to return to them.  He did.

On his 5th US mission, he's flying as co-pilot in a B-17 on a mission to Hanover Germany.  As they are approaching the target, they get attacked head on by Focke-Wulf  190's head on.  Their cannons hit the cockpit and split open the pilot's skull but did not kill him.  He passed out and fell against the controls causing the plane to dive out of formation.  Lt Morgan, with sheer strength,  pulled him off the control stick and brought the plane back into formation.  He decided that it would be better to remain in the formation for protection than going home alone. Probably a good choice.

He manages to get the plane back home with most of the crew still alive.  The pilot died shortly after landing.

Lt Morgan is awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on that mission.

But... 

In March of 1944, he's co-piloting an aircraft to bomb Berlin.  This aircraft gets shot down and in his haste to bail out, he forgets to fasten his parachute.  He exits the aircraft and realized his error.  While falling through the air, he manages to put his parachute on and secure it.  Then pulls the cord and lands safely.  Unfortunately, he is captured by the Germans. 

I'm not certain if this is a point of distinction, but he is the only person to be a POW after receiving the Medal of Honor. 

When asked about the Medal he said "There's no such thing as a hero. …I was pushed into circumstances where I was forced to act. You can never say how you're going to react to something until it happens, but I think most people would have done the same."  

I would hope and pray that is so should I have been presented with similar circumstances. 

 

Ira Eaker pinning on Lt Morgan's Medal of Honor

 

 

 

Citation for the award of the Medal of Honor

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty, while participating on a bombing mission over enemy-occupied continental Europe, 28 July 1943. Prior to reaching the German coast on the way to the target, the B17 aircraft in which 2nd Lt.  Morgan was serving as co-pilot was attacked by a large force of enemy fighters, during which the oxygen system to the tail, waist, and radio gun positions was knocked out. A frontal attack placed a cannon shell through the windshield, totally shattering it, and the pilot's skull was split open by a .303 caliber shell, leaving him in a crazed condition. The pilot fell over the steering wheel, tightly clamping his arms around it. 2d Lt. Morgan at once grasped the controls from his side and, by sheer strength, pulled the aircraft back into formation despite the frantic struggles of the semiconscious pilot. The interphone had been destroyed, rendering it impossible to call for help. At this time the top turret gunner fell to the floor and down through the hatch with his arm shot off at the shoulder and a gaping wound in his side. The waist, tail, and radio gunners had lost consciousness from lack of oxygen and, hearing no fire from their guns, the copilot believed they had bailed out. The wounded pilot still offered desperate resistance in his crazed attempts to fly the aircraft. There remained the prospect of flying to and over the target and back to a friendly base wholly unassisted. In the face of this desperate situation, 2nd Lt. Officer Morgan made his decision to continue the flight and protect any members of the crew who might still be in the ship and for 2 hours he flew in formation with one hand at the controls and the other holding off the struggling pilot before the navigator entered the steering compartment and relieved the situation. The miraculous and heroic performance of 2nd Lt. Morgan on this occasion resulted in the successful completion of a vital bombing mission and the safe return of his aircraft and crew.

 

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Morgan 

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/john-c-morgan 

https://www.af.mil/Medal-of-Honor/Morgan/ 

https://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient/recipient-1861/. Only recipient to be a POW AFTER MoH awarded

BG Kenneth N. Walker MOH

 

 

 

OK Campers, this one is a little rough for me.  Prior to Pearl Harbor he served a staff officer tour.  Unfortunately, for a lot of aircrew in WWII, he was a member of the "Bomber Mafia"

Wikipedia has a good passage on what I'm talking about, so....

"He supported the creation of a separate air organization that is not subordinate to other military branches. He was a forceful advocate of the efficacy of strategic bombardment, publishing articles on the subject and becoming part of a clique known as the "Bomber Mafia" that argued for the primacy of bombardment over other forms of military aviation. He advanced the notion that fighters could not prevent a bombing attack. "

In short, "the bomber will always get through".  This thought process was disproved in the attack on Ploesti Oil Fields in Europe (30 percent loss rate, 330+ aircrew killed or imprisoned, oil production was resumed within weeks).

He was transferred to the Pacific where he commanded the Bomber Command of Fifth Air Force.  To his credit, he frequently flew combat missions in the South Pacific including attacks on Rabaul.  Rabaul being a VERY important port for supplying the Japanese army.  On January 5th 1943 , he was leading a daylight attack there where his bomber was shot down and he was killed.   

 

Headquarters buildings were a bit more "casual" back then than they are now. Source

 There's quite a bit more detail about the man in the wikipedia article linked below.  Very worthwhile read.

 

Citation to accompany the Medal of Honor

For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty involving personal valor and intrepidity at an extreme hazard to life. As commander of the 5th Bomber Command during the period from 5 September 1942 to 5 January 1943, Brig. Gen. Walker repeatedly accompanied his units on bombing missions deep into enemy-held territory. From the lessons personally gained under combat conditions, he developed a highly efficient technique for bombing when opposed by enemy fighter airplanes and by antiaircraft fire. On 5 January 1943, in the face of extremely heavy antiaircraft fire and determined opposition by enemy fighters, he led an effective daylight bombing attack against shipping in the harbor at Rabaul, New Britain, which resulted in direct hits on nine enemy vessels. During this action his airplane was disabled and forced down by the attack of an overwhelming number of enemy fighters. 

 

 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Walker_(general) 

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105285/brigadier-general-kenneth-newton-walker/ 

A twofer, 2nd Lt. Joseph R. Sarnoski MOH & MajorJay Zeamer MOH

 

 OK, Campers, another Medal of Honor Recipient from WWII.  This one is somewhat unique.  As I've written before, virtually all Medal of Honor awards were awarded to a single recipient.  There two cases were there were two Medal of Honor Recipients on the Mission.  We will be discussing one of those missions (don't worry the other mission is on the schedule.  In this post we will be talking about Joseph Sarnoski and Jay Zeamer.

 

Lt Sarnoski
Source

 

Major Zeamer
Source

This was kind of interesting to me for a variety of reasons.  First, when I hear about B-17s, like most people I immediately think of 8th Air Force, Great Britain and Nazi Germany.  The Flying Fortress flew in every theater of war in WWII, and while I knew that, I didn't appreciate some of the aspects of that fact.

Lt Sarnoski and Major Zeamer are unique in that, although they were in the same aircraft when the action occurred, they received them for different reasons.

This site, as usual, has quite a bit of detailed information about the mission, providing some of those bon mots that bring the incident to life.  

Apparently, Major Zeamer was a natural leader, who had  had a problem checking out as a pilot in the B-26.  In fact, at the time of this mission, he was NOT a qualified B-17 pilot. He had only passed the qualifications to be a co-pilot.

My interpretation of this was not that he lacked the flying ability, but that he lacked the ability to comply with what would later become the SAC way of flying.  Based on this, or perhaps because of this, he was sent to 5th Air Force in the South Pacific, in the B-26.  (Source) He raised the ire of his mates there by, apparently falling asleep, during the bomb run on missions evidently due to boredom.  He was transferred to a B-17 unit, where he was assigned to some one who "got" him, and trained him.  

 

Major Zeamer is 2nd from left back row, Lt Sarnowski is last on the right back row.
Source

Major Zeamer eventually put together a crew of misfits like himself, found a shot up B-17 that was being cannibalized and restored it to flying status, added additional armament to it and began flying missions no one else wanted to fly.  

 

Believed to be the only picture of their aircraft
Source

Such was the state of the war in that theater, that no one really asked to see his "papers" authorizing him to fly as pilot in command.  My kinda guy!  

Fighter Pilot is an Attitude, not an AFSC! (Air Force Specialty Code in your record so that people reading it knew what you were qualified for. Mine was 11F1F (F-15 Pilot)!

In any case, in June of 1943, Major Zeamer takes a mission to map Bougainville, in preparation for invasion.  Somebody, flying a chair, had also asked them to take pictures of the airfield at Buka.  Major Zeamer declined as that would have alerted the Japanese to his approach.

As he's approaching the target, he realizes he's 30 minutes ahead of schedule, so decides to fly over Buka and take the pictures.  He does and now back on time, but with the Japanese alerted, flies on to perform his mapping mission.

Lt Sarnoski had received orders sending him stateside in 3 days as he's been in theater for 18 months and more than exceeded his required missions.  Everything I read about him said he was an outstanding bombardier as well as an excellent shot with the machine gun.  He volunteered to go on the mission as his replacement had come down with malaria and was grounded.

The mission is going to be dangerous for a couple of reasons, as they are taking pictures to be used as maps, the aircraft cannot deviate from the flight path at all.  Straight and level.  Also, in order for the mission to be successful, the film must make it back to base.  Getting shot down is mission failure, as well as the usual bad stuff involved with getting shot down.

They are in the final phases of the mission when they notice Japanese Zero's  taking off and pursuing them.  Modifications to their B-17 were such that instead of the usual 10 x .50 Cal machine guns, they had 19.  The first Zero's that attacked from the tail were shot down.  

Other Zero's maneuvered around to the front for a head on attack.  One is shot down by Lt Sarnoski, but another one attacks and shatters the front end of the bomber severely injuring him, throwing him back under the flight deck.  Damage is such that Major Zeamer can see him through the holes.

Declining first aid, Lt Sarnoski manages to pull himself back to his position and resume firing, destroying a Japanese Dinah twin engine fighter.

 

Source

Major Zeamer has not escaped injury from the head on attacks either.  He's severely injured in the legs and arms, and is flying the aircraft with his fingers.  

Sources I've found say this aerial battle went on from 40 minutes to an hour as the B-17 makes it's exit from the target area. As they prepare to make a final attack, Major Zeamer pulls the B-17 into a steep dive into some clouds. The Japanese being low on fuel and ammunition, assume that was a death dive and RTB.

Major Zeamer pulls the aircraft out of the dive and continues to command the aircraft between periods of unconciousness due to blood loss.  The Co-pilot is performing first aid on Lt Sarnoski and the aircraft is being flown by one of the Gunners.

RTB takes about 4 hours and Lt Sarnoski succumbs to his injuries enroute.  Major Zeamer revives in time to make the actual landing and passes out again on shutdown hearing the medics say to "leave the pilot for last, he's dead."

Fortunately, that wasn't true, although the Doctors eventually pulled 150 pieces of metal out of him, most parts of the B-17.

He passed away in 2017.

One of the sources I found for Lt Sarnoski was entitled, "From a common man, uncommon Valor".  I think that has been a frequent summation for the folks on that monument at Lackland.

 

Major Zeamer's Citation:

On 16 June 1943, Maj. Zeamer (then Capt.) volunteered as pilot of a bomber on an important photographic mapping mission covering the formidably defended area in the vicinity of Buka, Solomon Islands. While photographing the Buka airdrome. his crew observed about 20 enemy fighters on the field, many of them taking off.  

Despite the certainty of a dangerous attack by this strong force, Maj. Zeamer proceeded with his mapping run, even after the enemy attack began. In the ensuing engagement, Maj. Zeamer sustained gunshot wounds in both arms and legs, 1 leg being broken. Despite his injuries, he maneuvered the damaged plane so skillfully that his gunners were able to fight off the enemy during a running fight which lasted 40 minutes. The crew destroyed at least 5 hostile planes, of which Maj. Zeamer himself shot down 1.

 Although weak from loss of blood, he refused medical aid until the enemy had broken combat. He then turned over the controls, but continued to exercise command despite lapses into unconsciousness, and directed the flight to a base 580 miles away. In this voluntary action, Maj. Zeamer, with superb skill, resolution, and courage, accomplished a mission of great value. 

Lt. Sarnoski's Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty. On 16 June 1943, 2d Lt. Sarnoski volunteered as bombardier of a crew on an important photographic mapping mission covering the heavily defended Buka area, Solomon Islands. 

When the mission was nearly completed, about 20 enemy fighters intercepted. At the nose guns, 2d Lt. Sarnoski fought off the first attackers, making it possible for the pilot to finish the plotted course. When a coordinated frontal attack by the enemy extensively damaged his bomber, and seriously injured 5 of the crew, 2d Lt. Sarnoski, though wounded, continued firing and shot down 2 enemy planes.

A 20-millimeter shell which burst in the nose of the bomber knocked him into the catwalk under the cockpit. With indomitable fighting spirit, he crawled back to his post and kept on firing until he collapsed on his guns. 2d Lt. Sarnoski by resolute defense of his aircraft at the price of his life, made possible the completion of a vitally important mission.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sarnoski

http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1940_wwii/sarnoski.html

http://www.homeofheroes.com/wings/part2/07_zeamer_sarnoski.html

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/from-a-common-man-uncommon-valor-joseph-r-sarnoski/

http://www.historynet.com/suicide-run-final-flight-old-666.htm

http://zeamerseagerbeavers.com/biographies/jay-zeamer/

https://www.cmohs.org/index.php/recipients/joseph-r-sarnoski 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sarnoski 

https://www.war.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/4214813/medal-of-honor-monday-army-air-corps-2nd-lt-joseph-sarnoski/ 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Zeamer_Jr.

Sources