How many B-17s took off from Midway for the first air attack ?
Leonard " Smitty " Smith Humiston , co-pilot on First Lieutenant Robert H. Richards ' B-17C , AAF S / N " 40-2049 " , 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 .