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Lt. Col. Jay Zeamer's "Eager Beavers" were a World War II B-17 bomber crew stationed in Australia and New Guinea in 1943, their nickname inspired by Zeamer’s constant volunteering for missions and the crew's happiness to oblige him.

They were part of the early aerial effort first to stop a Japanese invasion of Australia, and then to take the offensive against Japan. It was a part of the war as primitive as it is unknown, literally and figuratively the polar opposite of the European air war:

Handfuls of beat-up bombers flying two-day missions, unescorted, out of nomadic, Civil War-style tent camps in jungles and prairies, across thousands of miles of ocean and through the most violent storms on Earth, to bomb the most fortified harbor in the Pacific. A war in which dust and disease are as much an enemy as the Japanese.

It was an incredible feat of ingenuity and perseverance—traits the Eager Beavers would combine with training and preparation above and beyond, helping them repeatedly to take the initiative and defy the odds. Helping them, ultimately, to make history.

They are the most highly decorated air crew in American history.

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Above and Beyond

The Incredible True Story of Zeamer's Eager Beavers

Read right now  on the website.

Download  to read offline later.

(Audio version coming soon!)

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This story has received over 8 million views in various videos online, with 150,000 likes and tens of thousands of comments with one constant refrain:
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New + Popular Features

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New intro video!

I've added a video to the ZEB YouTube channel introducing myself and explaining my history with the story and how I know what I know about the crew.

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My National Medal of Honor Museum article

The National Medal of Honor Museum invited me to write an article on Zeamer, Sarnoski, and the 16 June 1943 mission which resulted in their each being awarded the Medal of Honor.

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My (former) Amazon LUCKY 666 review

I wrote an Amazon review of Drury and Clavin's Lucky 666 when it was published in 2016.  In 2023 it vanished without notice or explanation, and now I'm not permitted.  Why?  You be the judge.  Here's the bizarre story and the review.

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My First Interview

An unexpected and exciting development. Excellent questions and commentary from the great gang at Mack Maloney's Military X-Files podcast.

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History of "Lucy" / "Old 666"

What's the real story of B-17E #41-2666?  Read the most comprehensive history available of the Fortress made famous by the Eager Beavers.

Photo of B-17E #41-266, a.k.a. "Lucy" and "Old 666"

Sources

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