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That said, the answer to a really big question--Did just two American pilots, perhaps resembling Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett, really claim seven of the 29 Japanese planes downed that day?--is yes. Lieutenants George S. Welch and Kenneth Taylor, upon whom the movie characters are very loosely based, managed to get aloft and were credited with four kills in their first action, three more near the end of the attack.
Two footnotes: neither Welch nor Taylor was involved in the air raid against Tokyo led by Lieut. Colonel James Doolittle, which is accurately depicted in the film as a swift-response morale booster. And there's no evidence that Welch and Taylor were enmeshed in any kind of love triangle.
--With reporting by Daniel S. Levy/New York