APPENDIX B

Lieut. Stanley W. Vejtasa Downs 7 Enemy Planes

One of the most astonishing feats in the history of naval aviation was performed by Lieut. Stanley W. Vejtasa, leader of one of the combat patrol flights launched from the Enterprise during the morning of 26 October. Lieut. Vejtasa and his three accompanying pilots took off shortly after it was announced at 0930 that an enemy attack group was approaching the Hornet. They rendezvoused and proceeded toward the Hornet climbing under full power, until they were vectored out on a bearing of 230° T., distance 5 miles, and instructed to look for "bogies" at 7,000 feet. The four fighters were at 12,000 feet by this time, and Lieut. Vejtasa noted that six to eight enemy dive bombers were above him, making a high-speed glide to their push-over point which was approximately at his altitude. One of the aircraft dived into a cloud and reappeared at this level, whereupon Lieut. Vejtasa executed a steep wing-over and made a high-side run. The Japanese plane went down in flames. The other bombers completed their attack, but Lieut. Vejtasa dropped to a lower altitude and shot down two of them retiring.

Lieut. Vejtasa had been using his wing tank, but at this point his engine cut out and he had to shift to the main fuel supply. He noticed gasoline squirting from beneath the trailing edge of his right wing and realized that the wing tank had been punctured or the fuel line had come loose. Consequently he decided to release the spare tank, but was able to do so only after pulling with both hands on the lever.

The flight climbed back to 10,000 feet and proceeded on vectors being supplied to other sections, but again the enemy bombers came in over them. The United States fighters followed another vector of 330° T. and when at 13,000 feet intercepted 11 torpedo planes which intended to attack the Enterprise. Lieut. Vejtasa and his wing man attacked one section of three aircraft as they were about to deploy for their approach, and each pilot set one plane on fire. As Lieut. Vejtasa broke away, he saw another F4F-4 attacking. The formation of bombers then scattered and flew into a cloud. Lieut. Vejtasa followed close behind a three-plane

section and blew up the number two plane with two short bursts. He then shot the leader's rudder off and the aircraft caught fire. The third plane started a shallow turn to escape but broke into flames after a long burst.

Lieut. Vejtasa pulled up and tried a low-side attack on a torpedo bomber above him but missed. He followed the plane out of the clouds and discovered that it was too high and flying too fast for an effective drop. Antiaircraft opened up, and Lieut. Vejtasa broke away. The enemy aircraft kept going straight and crashed into the destroyer Smith. There was a large explosion near No. 1 turret.

As Lieut. Vejtasa circled around the screen; he saw two torpedo planes fly through the antiaircraft fire and begin a retirement close to the water. One was attacked by another fighter. Lieut. Vejtasa attacked the nearer one. His ammunition was nearly gone, so he emptied his guns into the bomber. It skidded violently in an attempt to evade, but caught fire and dived into the water after proceeding about five miles. Lieut. Vejtasa joined up with the other members of his section and returned to the Enterprise, where the four pilots circled for an hour and 20 minutes until the cessation of enemy attacks made it possible to land. Lieut. Vejtasa was credited with two dive bombers, five torpedo bombers, and one probable torpedo bomber.