Seven at Santa Cruz : the life of fighter ace Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa /
This biography details how Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa became a World War II naval hero. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Swede flew an SBD Dauntless dive-bomber and helped sink Shoho, the first aircraft carrier lost by Japan in World War II. The next day, in that same Dauntless, he took of...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Annapolis, Maryland :
Naval Institute Press,
[2018]
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| Summary: | This biography details how Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa became a World War II naval hero. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Swede flew an SBD Dauntless dive-bomber and helped sink Shoho, the first aircraft carrier lost by Japan in World War II. The next day, in that same Dauntless, he took off from USS Yorktown and outflew and outgunned three Japanese Zeros, making him the only dive bomber pilot to be awarded Navy Crosses for both bombing and aerial combat. During the Battle of Santa Cruz, Swede Vejtasa single-handedly downed an unprecedented two Japanese dive bombers and five torpedo bombers and saved the USS Enterprise. |
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| Physical Description: | xiii, 270 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781682472873 1682472876 |