by Bob Drury
Our goal in researching and reporting Lucky 666 was, as always, to tell as fully and accurately as possible a story about ordinary men rising to extraordinary circumstances. As we sifted through the stacks of collected documents, letters, diaries, and transcripts, we had to acknowledge that inevitably there were contradictions. To the best of our ability, we resolved them with even further reporting. Nonetheless, the responsibility for any inaccuracies herein is ours and ours alone.
NOTES
CHAPTER 1: WANDERLUST
“The job involved bookkeeping . . .”: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Sensing that revolution was imminent: Ibid.
These rural areas virtually called: Marjorie Zeamer biography.
Foremost in the Zeamer family’s memory: Jere Zeamer remembrance.
Jay’s little rowboat: Marjorie Zeamer biography.
Within a year he had risen: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
After several warnings: Ibid.
CHAPTER 2: THE WILD BLUE YONDER
Culver’s mission statement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culver_Academies.
Jay graduated from Culver: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
The two boys refused: Geoffrey Zeamer interview.
“by the bushel”: Ibid.
When Jay Sr. was a newborn: Sketch of Jay Zeamer, Sr., p. 1.
He had also been the victim: Ibid.
As Jay Sr. noted: Ibid.
The slow train that transported Jay: Geoffrey Zeamer interview.
CHAPTER 3: JAY & JOE
But like Jay: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Rickenbacker.
This did not mean Jay: Rembisz, “Wings of Valor,” p. 6.
Though he never did find his man: Zeamer letter to Victoria, December 21, 1995.
As he would one day: Ibid.
For reasons that baffled: Judith Thompson memo 2.
Most of the money: Matilda Sarnoski interview, June 22, 2015.
“When he tried to teach us”: Ibid.
“He wanted us to grow up”: Ibid.
Through all his travels: Ibid.
More urgently, by the summer of 1941: Rembisz, “Wings of Valor,” p. 6.
CHAPTER 4: “THE SACRED DUTY OF THE LEADING RACE”
Like most seasoned military men: Hennessy, USAF Historical Studies No. 98.
Yet the plane’s colorful nickname: Dewan, Red Raider Diary, p. 13.
Referring to the aircraft’s developer: Ibid.,
But it was landings: Gamble, Fortress Rabaul, p. 135.
Or he would come in: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
“For some reason Jay”: Walt Krell remembrance.
“Nothing ever seemed to bother him”: Caidin, Flying Forts, p. 22.
But once in the air: Walt Krell remembrance.
The fact that Jay was not alone: Caidin and Hymoff, The Mission, p. 47.
Despite these setbacks: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Unlike Western white supremacists: Dower, War Without Mercy, p. 203.
In 1940 the influential Japanese politician: Ibid.
Headquarters had other plans: Goldstein and Dillon, The Pacific War Papers, p. 4.
Finally, with Australia overrun: Dower, War Without Mercy, p. 258.
One American Army general said that: George C. Kenney Papers, Center for Air Force History.
From early childhood Japanese boys: Keneally, Shame and the Captives.
This attitude was summed up: Dower, War Without Mercy, p. 260.
CHAPTER 5: THE FORTRESS
They planned to call it: Salecker, Fortress Against the Sun, p. 46.
When Hitler’s forces invaded Poland: Mason, The United States Air Force, p. 119.
As a pilot of a B-17: Caidin, Flying Forts, p. 3.
As it happened, once aircraft: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_error_probable).
If he had been familiar with: Costello, The Pacific War, p. 4.
Only a few months earlier: Davenport, “Impregnable Pearl Harbor.”
Toward the end of his dispatch: Ibid.
Within hours the simultaneous attacks: James, A Time for Giants, pp. 196–97.
CHAPTER 6: THE WINDS OF WAR
He feared that this could be: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Worse, to Jay’s everlasting disgust: Ibid.
Eleven days before the assault: Edmonds, They Fought with What They Had, p. 56.
This air fleet was: Costello, The Pacific War, p. 105.
The unofficial military grapevine: Connaughton, MacArthur and Defeat in the Philippines.
In his definitive biography: Manchester, American Caesar, p. 230.
And after MacArthur escaped Corregidor: Connaughton, MacArthur and Defeat in the Philippines.
This was too much for Gen. William Brougher: Ibid.
But as one of Joe’s fellow bombardiers noted: Dunbar letter to Rembisz, December 16, 1985.
The mess room, one Airman wrote: kensmen.com general history.
The Argentina made refueling: Ibid.
Joe was no stranger: Ibid.
CHAPTER 7: THE JAPANESE CITADEL
The pilots were also ordered: Evans and Gaylor, Revenge of the Red Raiders.
Indeed, his first commanding officer: Hillenbrand, Unbroken, p. 80.
Despite his famous promise: Drury and Clavin, Halsey’s Typhoon, p. 37.
Marshall’s proposal was rejected: Sears, Pacific Air War, p. 111.
This “insult” to the supreme commander: James, A Time for Giants, pp. 196–97.
In a bizarre development: Lardner, Southwest Passage, p. 172.
The results were disheartening: Griffith, MacArthur’s Airman, p. 56.
Prior to December 7: Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral, p. 293.
Yamamoto had gone so far: Ibid., p. 292.
They continued, brutally and illegally: Gamble, Fortress Rabaul, p. 64.
This renovation included: www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-NBrit/USMC-M-NBrit-1.html, p.3.
The results of the bombing run: Gamble, Fortress Rabaul, p. 100.
The lead pilot’s After-Action report: Ibid.
CHAPTER 8: INTO THE FIGHT
When in early April: Dewan, Red Raider Diary, p. 10.
These often resulted in clandestine: Evans and Gaylor, Revenge of the Red Raiders.
Though Australia is roughly: Lardner, Southwest Passage, p. 60.
This was particularly true: Benefield memoir excerpt (chapter 4).
In the winter months: Lardner, Southwest Passage, p. 60.
Those troops, Lardner reported: Ibid.
What this meant for the: Ibid., p. 61.
They discovered, for instance: Griffith, MacArthur’s Airman, p. 98.
And in a pinch the Australian: Ibid.
As one of the 22nd: Dewan, Red Raider Diary, p. 25.
Thus, when the three: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
When the war began: Lardner, Southwest Passage, p. 106.
The Japanese took notice: Gamble, Fortress Rabaul, p. 138.
When the lyrical propagandist: Stahl, “A Monkey Rides My Shoulder,” p. 1.
CHAPTER 9: BREAKING THE CODE
This would not only eliminate: Lardner, Southwest Passage, p. 79.
By early May the Americans: Sears, Pacific Air War, p. 110.
This intelligence breach outraged: Ibid.
luckily, and typically: Griffith, MacArthur’s Airman, p. 54.
He was also an ardent: Drury and Clavin, Halsey’s Typhoon, p. 23.
Some months earlier: Sears, Pacific Air War, pp. 110–11.
Written by a vice president of research: Ibid.
Of equal importance, more skilled: Gamble, Fortress Rabaul, p. 190.
As one Army Air Force general: Letter, Kenney to Arnold, January 1, 1943.
Now, with four airstrips operational: Costello, The Pacific War, p. 375.
And the confrontations: “World Battlefronts,” Time, January 18, 1943.
Back in Australia: Dewan, Red Raider Diary, p. 13.
Jay, in turn, marked this shif
t: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
CHAPTER 10: THE RENEGADE PILOT
The Japanese caricatured: Dower, War Without Mercy, p. 85.
American cartoonists could not resist: http://ww2cartoons.org/june-1942-battle-of-midway-turns-the-tide-in-the-pacific.
General MacArthur also benefited: http://bfedoriwchapter16.blogspot.com/2013/05/politcal-cartoons-and-propaganda.html.
And in London Punch published: http://punch.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Bernard-Partridge-Cartoons/G0000_xSMzDQG4iQ/I00004.3Uax6HjeU.
As one family member: Geoffrey Zeamer interview.
Back on the ground, Seffern wrote: “Screwball Aces,” p. 60.
Jay would later gloss over: Letter to Bob Butler, 1983.
He was fast running not only: Hyde, “Medal of Honor Mission,” p. 60.
After two of the 22nd’s bombers: Stanaway and Rocker, Eight Ballers, p. 42.
The colonel sensed that: Dewan, Red Raider Diary, p. 16.
Another pilot from the 22nd added: Caidin and Hymoff, The Mission, p. 54.
One of the Bomb Group’s senior officers: Dewan, Red Raider Diary, pp. 16–17.
Four-engine bombers like: 43rd Bomb Group Official History, p. 29.
CHAPTER 11: THE BULLDOG
And during his 1940 deployment: “World Battlefronts,” Time, January 18, 1943.
Newspapermen and magazine writers: Boothe, Europe in the Spring, p. 171.
When it came Kenney’s turn: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, p. 30.
As Kenney recalled in his diary: Ibid.
Kenney, reacting instinctively: Gamble, Fortress Rabaul, p. 206.
During briefings at the Kila Kila: Costello, The Pacific War, p. 319.
Similarly, he had no answer: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, p. 43.
One mechanic even said: Benefield memoir excerpt (chapter 6).
Once back in Brisbane he signed: Manuel, “General Kenney As a Strategic Leader,” p. 11.
Kenney explained his thinking: “World Battlefronts,” Time, January 18, 1943.
Then he inserted: Ibid.
Or, as Kenney noted: Ibid.
It was a move that turned: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, pp. 79–80.
He remedied this by wrangling: Ibid., p. 52.
“Our only excuse for living”: Ibid.
He was true to his word: Ibid., p. 215.
CHAPTER 12: A MICROSCOPIC METROPOLIS
The entire coast, he added: Murphy, Skip Bombing, p.7.
Clouds of mosquitoes competed: Jimmy Diefendorfer interview.
The base’s “Diggers”: Lardner, Southwest Passage, p. 177.
Still, there was no: Costello, The Pacific War, p. 318.
It was not unusual: 43rd Bomb Group Official History, p. 27.
Disease ran so rampant: Ibid.
He was also unofficially: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Incredibly, with Australian cities: Caidin and Hymoff, The Mission, p. 36.
As the U.S. Army Air Force: AAF Historical Study No. 9.
Even a third parallel: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
During the month of May: Caidin and Hymoff, The Mission, p. 59.
After each attack: Ibid, p. 60.
One of Jay’s fellow pilots: Ibid.
One of the 43rd’s pilots: Jimmy Diefendorfer interview.
The RAAF officers club: Lardner, Southwest Passage, p. 190.
Many of the Australian fliers: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
A “microscopic metropolis”: Lardner, Southwest Passage, pp. 171–72.
CHAPTER 13: KEN’S MEN
In 1942, and for much: Rembisz, “Home of Heroes.”
Early on, even MacArthur: Costello, The Pacific War, p. 319.
And though to some: Claringbould, The Forgotten Fifth, p. 29.
After apologizing for waking: Birdsall, Flying Buccaneers, p. vi.
“Don’t apologize for news”: Ibid.
An hour later: Ibid.
MacArthur laughed: Ibid.
Kenney’s presence brought: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, p. 184.
When a seasoned quartermaster: Ibid., p. 187.
The last thing he needed: Ibid.
In the middle of his lecture: Ibid.
Kenney was mightily impressed: Gunn, Pappy Gunn.
After flight tests gauging: Griffith, MacArthur’s Airman, p. 104.
The first time Kenney experimented: “World Battlefronts,” Time, January 18, 1943.
“You’ve got to devise stuff like that”: Ibid.
In private Kenney: Evans and Gaylor, Revenge of the Red Raiders.
Once, after advising MacArthur: Griffith, MacArthur’s Airman, p. 99.
For all of the “stuff”: http://www.quora.com/During-WWII-how-did-the-USMC-hold-the-island-of-Guadalcanal-for-such-a-long-time-against-such-a-numerous-enemy
But enough of the dropped: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, p. 22.
“The lads in Fiji”: Ibid.
This freed the major: Birdsall, Flying Buccaneers, p. 25.
Instead his crews: Ibid., p. 26.
“Just as one would”: Murphy, Skip Bombing, p. 24.
Knowing that the general: “World Battlefronts,” Time, January 18, 1943.
CHAPTER 14: A PLACE WHERE TROUBLE STARTED
A sophisticated ladies’ man: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, p. 143.
The scion of New Mexican: Rembisz, “Wings of Valor.”
But Kenney liked and admired: Ibid.
“General Walker stepped”: pacificwrecks.com.
As one of the 43rd’s flight: Seattle Daily Times, September 9, 1942.
Accordingly, he argued: www.homeofheroes.com/wings/part2/03_walker.html.
As Kenney explained: “World Battlefronts,” Time, January 18, 1943.
Moreover, as opposed to carpet bombing: Griffith, MacArthur’s Airman, p. 81.
When word began to spread: Birdsall, Flying Buccaneers, p. 26.
McCullar’s combat diaries in particular: 22nd Bomb Group Official History.
With his pilot shielded: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, pp. 169–70.
As Kenney was to put it: Ibid.
There were no recorded hits: 22nd Bomb Group Official History.
“Violent explosions and flying debris”: Ibid.
That final run with McCullar: Rembisz, “Wings of Valor.”
CHAPTER 15: “CLEAR AS A BELL”
Over the previous two months: Birdsall, Flying Buccaneers, p. 29.
None of them was aware: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Yet a few moments later: Ibid.
Then the waist gunner’s voice: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 102.
After two minutes: Ibid., p. 104.
The fighter’s fuselage spun: Ibid., p. 103.
Handling his aircraft: Eaton memo to Jay Zeamer Jr.
As the turret gunner recorded: Bergerud, Fire in the Sky, p. 551.
“That mission,” he wrote: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 103.
CHAPTER 16: THE MISSING GENERAL
By any metric, December 1942: Franklin Roosevelt “Infamy” speech.
Yamamoto in the Imperial Navy: Goldstein and Dillon, Pacific War Papers.
Or, as another aide to Yamamoto: Ugaki diary, p. 319.
The situation came to a head: “World Battlefronts,” Time, January 18, 1943.
“all-out attack”: Ibid. See also Gamble, Fortress Rabaul, p. 278.
The general, who had been: Boyington, Baa Baa Black Sheep, p. 179. https://books.google.com/books?id=GVITAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA179&1pg=PA179&dq=chesty+puller+there+is+only+a+hairline&source=bl&ots=0tF-CgrWBB&sig=IkyG8u9bZWS_5qtnpNuurwpjDBA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZmVXVcW9GcyXNpzmgeAP&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=chesty%20puller%20there%20is%20only%20a%20hairline&f=false.
That night Jay entered: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
CHAPTER 17: PUSHING NORTH
At 60, Adm. Halsey was the self-proclaimed: Drury and Clavin, Halsey’s Typhoon, p. 4.
Though he disliked the epithet: Ibid., p. 12.
When he was presented with his new: Halsey and Bryan, Admiral Halsey’s Story, p. 109.
And when word spread: James, A Time for Giants, p. 181.
The raid had been: Drury and Clavin, Halsey’s Typhoon, p. 4.
Allied advances half a world: Costello, The Pacific War, p. 374.
King concluded that the path: Sears, Pacific Air, p. 112.
The general vociferously and publicly: Drury and Clavin, Halsey’s Typhoon, p. 39.
At the very least: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
By February 1943, Rabaul was: 43rd Bomb Group Official History.
[“The American]attacks are furious”: Ibid.
“The position of the command”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 18: A FINE REUNION
Benn, as Kenney himself noted: Kenney, General Kenney Reports, p. 126.
So they hatched a scheme: 43rd Bomb Group Official History.
with McCullar’s crew: Cohn, “Z Is for Zeamer,” p. 22.
As he told a relative: Geoffrey Zeamer interview.
“the friction of war”: “Von Clausewitz on War.”
“I caught him by surprise”: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
He described to Jay how: Dewan, Red Raider Diary.
As he’d written to his sister Jennie: Joe Sarnoski letter to Jennie.
The daily eight-hour classes: Dale F. Barr letter.
CHAPTER 19: “A MOTLEY COLLECTION OF OUTCASTS”
It was only natural that: Zeamer, “There’s Always a Way!” p. 104.
Jay rarely raised his voice: Cohn, “Z Is for Zeamer,” p. 22.
Quaint as that notion: Jay Zeamer Jr. papers.
Given his growing combat: Ibid.
Jay came to think of him: Ibid.
As a waist gunner George Kendrick: Ibid.
But it was not often that an Airman: Hyde, “Medal of Honor Mission,” p. 60
[“Zeamer]recruited a crew”: Cicala, “The Most Honored Photograph.”
CHAPTER 20: BLOOD ON THE BISMARCK SEA
One of the American pilots: Hastings, “No Survivors,” p. 18.
He added that the carnage: Ibid.
As one of the outfit’s pilots: 43rd Bomb Group Official History.
As the Combat Diary continued: Ibid.
They also gleefully reported: Stanaway and Rocker, Eight Ballers, p. 55.
As another pilot noted: Hastings, “No Survivors,” p. 18.
Clad in full jungle uniforms: Birdsall, Flying Buccaneers, p. 62.