With his aircraft still in relatively good condition, he decided to make for Hornet after clearing the Japanese carrier. However, five Mitsubishi A6M Zeros brought his aircraft down in a hail of machine gun and cannon fire, killing his rear gunner, ARM3c George Arthur Field.[1]
Exiting his aircraft, and floating in the ocean, he hid under his seat cushion for hours to avoid Japanese strafing attacks and witnessed the subsequent dive bombing attacks and sinking of three of the four Japanese aircraft carriers present.[4]
After dark, Gay felt it was safe to inflate his life raft. He was rescued by a Navy Consolidated PBY Catalina after spending over 30 hours in the water. Gay was later flown to USS Vincennes (arriving June 28, 1942), before being transferred home.[5] Of the squadron's thirty pilots and radiomen, Gay was the only survivor.
I met him at a IPMS model contest in atlanta when I was 13.Super nice guy.He retired from TWA as a captain.47 years ago.
Gay wrote a book: Sole Survivor. He signed quite a few copies, too.