Jay Zeamer , Jr . Jay Zeamer Jr . ( July 25 , 1918 – March 22 , 2007 ) was a pilot of the United States Army Air Forces in the South Pacific during World War II , and received the Medal of Honor for valor during an air mission on June 16 , 1943 . After the war , he earned became an aeronautical engineer and worked in the aerospace industry . Biography . Born in Carlisle , Pennsylvania , Zeamer grew up in Orange , New Jersey , the son of a traveling - salesman . He spent many summers at Boothbay Harbor , Maine , where he enjoyed rowing a homemade boat in the harbor . Zeamer became an Eagle Scout at the age of thirteen , and enrolled in Culver Military Academy in Culver , Indiana , at fourteen . ( He is one of only nine known Eagle Scout s who also received the Medal of Honor . The others are Aquilla J . Dyess , Robert Edward Femoyer , Eugene B . Fluckey , Thomas R . Norris , Arlo L . Olson , Mitchell Paige , Benjamin L . Salomon , and Leo K . Thorsness . ) He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) after graduating high school and enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps as a prospective officer in the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers . With a developing interest in aviation , he joined a local flying club in nearby Norwood for lessons . In 1939 , while still at MIT , Zeamer was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant in the Army Reserve . He graduated in 1940 with a degree in civil engineering and was assigned to Fort Dix , New Jersey . USAAF career . Zeamer was discharged to enlist in the Regular Army as a flying cadet and completed primary flight school at Glenview , Illinois , where his leadership skills earned him the position of Captain of Cadets . In March 1941 , he received his wings and a commission in the U . S . Army Air Corps after graduating from advanced flight school at Maxwell Field , Alabama . His initial assignment was as an engineering officer service testing the new B - 26 Marauder with the 22nd Bombardment Group ( Medium ) , based at Langley Field , Virginia , following which he was assigned to the group ' s 19th Bombardment Squadron as a co - pilot . On December 8 , 1941 , the 22nd BG was transferred from Langley to California to fly anti - submarine patrols off the west coast of the United States . In March 1942 , the 22nd BG was deployed to Australia , where Zeamer flew his first combat mission as a B - 26 co - pilot on April 6 , 1942 . First Lieutenant Zeamer transferred to the 43rd Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) in September 1942 , a group that flew the four - engined B - 17 Flying Fortress , as a supernumerary with group headquarters . On September 14 , 1942 , the 43rd BG moved to a forward base at Port Moresby , New Guinea , where it conducted both bombing and photographic reconnaissance missions . Acting primarily as an intelligence officer , Zeamer began flying combat again in October , filling in on combat crews needing a second pilot , and on a mission in November to photograph Simpson Harbor at Rabaul , New Britain , earned the Silver Star . Promoted to captain in April 1943 and becoming a pilot in the 43rd BG ' s 65th Bomb Squadron , Zeamer was awarded a second Silver Star for a night mission to Wewak in May 1943 . Medal of Honor mission . On June 16 , 1943 , he volunteered to fly an unescorted B - 17 nicknamed " Old 666 " to Buka , a small island off the north coast of Bougainville , a round - trip mission , to photograph Japanese installations and map the west coast of Bougainville as far south as Empress Augusta Bay in preparation for Allied landings scheduled for early November . Apparently unbeknownst to Allied intelligence , the Japanese had moved about 400 fighters into the Solomon Islands on June 15 . The mission was Zeamer ' s 47th in combat . The photo reconnaissance mission was without incident , although Zeamer ' s crew reported observing 20 fighters taking off from Buka airfield . Zeamer continued south to the mapping run and shortly before its completion , his B - 17 was intercepted by five Japanese fighters attacking from the front . Though wounded in the attack , bombardier Second Lieutenant Joseph Sarnoski continued to fire his nose gun , shooting down two airplanes , including a Mitsubishi Ki - 46 " Dinah " reconnaissance plane . Zeamer also destroyed one of the attackers using a nose gun fired remotely by a switch on the flight control column . A 20 - millimeter cannon shell exploded in the nose of the B - 17 , severely wounding Sarnoski and knocking him out of the compartment . Sarnoski dragged himself back to his station and continued to fire until he died at his position . The B - 17 ' s oxygen and hydraulic systems were destroyed , as were the pilot ' s flight instruments , in the initial attack . Zeamer , injured with a broken leg and numerous fragment wounds , dove the bomber steeply from its assigned mission altitude of to approximately ( where the crew could survive without use of the oxygen system ) , estimating the altitude by an increase in engine manifold pressure . An estimated 17 fighters began a series of attacks after the bomber leveled off , waging a 45 - minute battle . Zeamer saved the B - 17 by taking evasive action to disrupt their deflection , and his crew shot down at least two additional fighters . Zeamer refused first aid for his wounds and flew the B - 17 until the fighters had to break off the engagement due to being low on ammunition and fuel . Lapsing in and out of consciousness , he assessed the battle damage to the bomber , and concluded they would be unable to climb over the Owen Stanley Mountains , instructing the unwounded copilot to make an emergency landing at an Allied fighter airstrip at Dobodura , New Guinea . Without operable brakes or flaps because of the destroyed hydraulic system , the B - 17 was ground - looped by the co - pilot . The casualties were one killed ( Sarnoski ) and six wounded . At first thought dead from a massive loss of blood , Zeamer survived the ordeal , although nearly losing his leg during recovery . Colonel Merian C . Cooper , chief of staff to the deputy commander of the Fifth Air Force , Major General Ennis Whitehead , recommended Zeamer be awarded the Medal of Honor , to which Fifth Air Force commander General George Kenney concurred . He received the award from Chief of the Army Air Forces General Henry H . Arnold on January 16 , 1944 , at the Pentagon . Sarnoski was also awarded the Medal of Honor , the only instance of World War II when two members of one crew were honored for separate acts of heroism in the same combat engagement . All other members of Zeamer ' s crew received the Distinguished Service Cross . Recovery and later life . Zeamer was promoted to major on July 8 , 1943 , and lieutenant colonel in April 1944 . He spent fifteen months of hospital recovery at Walter Reed General Hospital and returned to active duty at Mitchel Field , New York as a Tactical Field Air Inspector . On January 18 , 1945 , Zeamer retired from the USAAF on disability . He returned to MIT and obtained a master ' s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1946 . Zeamer then worked for a series of aerospace companies : Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford , Connecticut , followed by Hughes Aircraft in Los Angeles , California , and finally Raytheon in Bedford , Massachusetts , until his retirement in 1968 . After his retirement , Zeamer moved to Boothbay Harbor , Maine , where he enjoyed rowing in the harbor , as he had done in his childhood . He also had a second home in Albuquerque , New Mexico . Zeamer married in 1949 , and with his wife Barbara raised five daughters : Marcia , Jacque , Jayne , Susan , and Sandra . Barbara Zeamer stated that he rarely talked about his wartime experiences or the medal . " I think he didn ' t feel he deserved it . He was so close to his bombardier [ Sarnoski ] and he felt terrible about his being killed . " Zeamer died in a nursing home at age 88 . At the time of his death , he was the last living Medal of Honor recipient of the Army Air Forces . Zeamer ' s funeral was held on March 26 , 2007 , with a burial at Arlington National Cemetery . The governor of Maine , John Baldacci , ordered that flags in the state be flown at half - staff on the day of the funeral . Legacy . Zeamer ' s Medal of Honor mission was featured on The History Channel and in the first chapter of the 1968 Martin Caidin ' s " Flying Forts : The B - 17 in WWII " . Caidin describes " Old 666 " as similar to the " Leper Colony " B - 17 of the movie " Twelve O ' Clock High " , but that Zeamer gathered his crew of misfits himself . The MIT " Lt . Col . Jay Zeamer Squadron " of the Arnold Air Society and , on October 17 , 2008 , the Pope AFB headquarters building were named in Zeamer ' s honor . In 2011 , Zeamer was selected as the exemplar of the class of 2014 at the United States Air Force Academy . His name is now worn on the left sleeve of that class ' s athletic jacket uniforms .