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The first American bombers to fly into battle in World War II. A group of Boeing B-17B bombers at Marshall Field, California, just prior flying to Pearl Harbor, December 6, 1941. The group of B-17's were flown to Pearl Harbor from California for delivery and arrived during the Japanese attack without ammunition or weapons on the plane, December 7, 1941.

One of the surviving pilots, Leonard "Smitty" Smith Humiston reported that he thought the U.S. Navy was giving the flight a 21 gun salute to celebrate the arrival of the bombers, after which he realized that Pearl Harbor was under attack. He came under fire from a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" suffering more than 200 bullet holes in his aircraft. Enemy activity near his destination forced an abort to an adjacent pineapple field where he landed safely with his crew.