On 16 January 1942, a TBD-1 Devastator of Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6 off the carrier Enterprise (CV 6) ran out of fuel while on a scouting mission over the Pacific. Operating under strict radio silence, the crew could not send a distress signal, and was forced to ditch their plane in the open ocean, which marked the beginning of an amazing ordeal.

With their plane sinking quickly beneath them, the aircraft's crew of Harold F. Dixon, Tony Pastula, and Gene Aldrich scrambled into the actual life raft displayed in the museum. With only the limited tools on board the raft, the clothes on their backs, and what they carried in their pockets, the men began a 34 day odyssey adrift at sea, during which they survived on rain water, two birds that they were able to catch, and fish that they speared with a pocket knife one of them had. When they washed up in the Danger Islands on 19 February 1942, it was estimated that the trio had traveled a distance of about 1,200 miles.

A photograph of the emaciated airmen at the time of their rescue stands next to the raft in which they survived. For many years the raft was displayed at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland.

The raft that saved their lives serves as a backdrop for the Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6 crew of Tony Pastula, Gene Aldrich, and Harold Dixon pictured after their 34 days at sea following the ditching of their aircraft. The original raft displayed in the museum retains the penciled tally marks the crew made noting each day adrift.