Arlington National Cemetery

	Jay Zeamer Jr 
Jay Zeamer Jr was one of the most determined and stubborn veterans I could think of from World War Two and I’ve been wanting to tell someone the heroic story of Jay Zeamer Jr and now I have the chance to tell someone.  Zeamer was born in 1918, about 3 and a half months before the end of World War 1 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania but he grew up in Orange, New Jersey. Jay then became an Eagle Scout at the age of 14. Zeamer then enrolled into Culver Military Academy after his freshman year of highschool. While he was there, he completed the Senior Infantry Reserve Officer Training Corps course, where he won Honors in Marksmanship each year he was there.  He would also serve in Culver Rifles Color Guard the last two years he was at the Academy.  After Zeamer attended a year of junior college at Culver, he would start taking a more rigorous curriculum and attending summer school which would allow him to enter Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  After Zeamer turned 21, he would be able to receive his Infantry Commision, becoming a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves. He was assigned to the 312th Infantry, 78th Division, but he took training as a flying cadet and earned his wings in March 1941.  Zeamer then served as a Piloand Engineering Officer with the 96th, 63rd, and I9th Bomber Squadron at Langley Field, VA from 1941 March to September 1942, where he would be promoted to first Lieutenant and he would earn his BS degree in civil engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Zeamer would then be sent to the Southwest Pacific in October, 1942, where he would fly reconnaissance bombers in combat. In April, 1943  Zeamer would be promoted to captain. In may of 1943, Zeamer and his crew of misfits, “The Eager Beavers”, would begin upgrading their b-17E, #41-2666.  They would begin replacing their old engines and getting rid of a lot of the extra weight and adding additional heavy machine guns including dual 50 caliber M2 machines gun in the radio compartment and waist gun positions, three in the nose, including a fixed .50 caliber in the plexiglas combing that Zeamer could directly fire from his pilot's control yoke.  In Zeamers flight log, there it is recorded that there were 16 active 50 Caliber machine guns with three additional spares. After the crew upgraded 			     “Photo of Old 666”
their B-17E into a fighting machine, it was then known as Old 666.						Two months later on June 16th, Captain Jay Zeamer Jr volunteered to pilot an important photographic mapping mission covering the substantially defended area in the vicinity Buka, Solomon Islands with his crew known as The Eager Beavers.  Once Zeamer started photographing the Buka airdome his crew spotted 20 aircraft on the field, in which many of them were taking off. Even though they would be severely outnumbered, Zeamer would continue his mapping run even after the enemy attack began. While the attack was happening Zeamer would be shot in both arms and legs, one being broken. Even while being injured and losing blood at a rapid pace, he still maneuvered his plane well enough for his gunners to fend off the attackers for 40 more minutes, shooting down 5 enemy combatives, in which Zeamer shot down one too.  Even though Zeamer had been losing blood, he refused medical help until the enemy attack was over and even when he gave away control, he continued shouting out commands on how to get back to base 580 miles away, even while he was coming in and out of consciousness.  
Because of the damage received to Old 666, they had to make an emergency landing in Dobodura, New Guinea. When they finally made it to Dobodura, they had lost control of the flaps and the brakes so they had to perform an emergency landing. After the battle and they landed, the casualties were 1 dead  and 4 injured. Zeamer was originally thought to be dead by the amount of blood he lost, but was quickly treated by the medics once they realized their mistake.  After that day, Zeamer was recommended by Colonel Merian C. Cooper, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Commander of the Fifth Air Force, and Major General Ennis Whitehead to receive the Medal of Honor in which Fifth Air Force commander General George Kenney would concur.  On January 16th General Henry, H Arnold would reward Zeamer the Medal of Honor at the Pentagon. Saronski, another member of the Eager Beavers, would also be awarded the Medal of Honor, marking only the third time two people from the same crew were awarded the medal of honor. All other members in the crew of Old 666 would receive the Distinguished Service Cross.  To this day, the crew of Old 666, “The Eager Beavers” remain the most highly decorated single mission crew, and highly decorated crew in history.


								By Timothy J. Spenelli


JAY ZEAMER JR

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