[The following takes place during the opening surprise attack on American Airmen who had been flying patrol and practice missions during the opening attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The initial surprise attack was so unexpected that most of the pilots who were in the air when it began did not fire first on the Japanese planes because they thought they were allied craft, being completely unaware that they were being attacked.]
Gonzalez obviously mistook the Japanese strikers for Army planes. As his Dauntless suddenly came under Zero gunfire, the ensign issued an urgent radio call at 0833: “Do not attack me! This is Six Baker Three, an American plane!” His SBD was heavily riddled with 7.7-mm fire, and Gonzalez yelled to his rear gunner, twenty-three-year-old RM3c Leonard Joseph Kozelek, “Stand by to get out the rubber boat!” It was too late. Six Val dive-bombers from the carrier Shokaku engaged the Dauntless and blasted Gonzalez and Kozelek to their deaths.
Source:
Moore, Stephen L. “Our World Was Shattered.” Pacific Payback: The Carrier Aviators Who Avenged Pearl Harbor at the Battle of Midway. NAL Caliber, 2014. 31. Print.
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