-bombers led by Major Lofton Henderson followed the TBF and B-26 attacks. Henderson had divided the squadron into two flights; leading the SBDs himself while Major Benjamin W. Norris led the Vindicators. As Henderson led the squadron northwest, the faster Dauntlesses soon left the Vindicators behind. Henderson's SBDs got their first look at the Japanese carriers at 7:25, and he radioed his Dauntless pilots, "Attack the two enemy CV on the port bow." Henderson had led his squadron down to 4,000 feet when the Japanese combat air patrol attacked. The Dauntlesses also met with heavy anti-aircraft fire from the Japanese ships. Henderson's plane was hit, and his port wing caught fire. He tried to keep his burning Dauntless in the lead, but finally lost control and plunged into the sea. Captain Elmer C. Gliddenquickly took command of the Dauntlesses. "Fighter attacks were heavy," he wrote, "so I led the squadron down through a protecting layer of clouds"(Stevens 102). The Zeros followed the Marines into the clouds. Glidden came out of the clouds and found two Japanese carriers, Kaga and Hiryu, 2,000 feet below. The 10 remaining Dauntlesses dived to 500 feet or lower before releasing their bombs, then sped away at full throttle, hounded by Zeros. Three SBDs crashed at sea near Midway. Their crews were later rescued. The remaining six, some badly shot up, reached Midway. Eight SBDs, including Henderson's, were lost, with the Japanese sustaining no damage. Sweeney's 15 Flying Fortresses arrived over Nagumo's fleet at 8:10, as the Dauntlesses finished their attacks. Seen from 20,000 feet, the Japanese fleet was "an astonishing sight," recalled B-17 pilot Don Kundinger. "A panoramic view of the greatest array of surface vessels any of us had ever seen--they seemed to stretch endlessly from horizon to horizon." Each three-plane B-17 element attacked on its own. Lieutenant Colonel Brooke Allen's element unloaded its bombs on the carrier Soryu, but al...
