“As I understand it, the post-Marshalls scene where Bruno Gaido shot down an attacking bomber from the backseat of his plane aboard the Enterprise actually happened. It seems like the kind of thing that would have been fabricated to pump up the drama, but it was real.”
I read the book “Eagle Against the Sun” many years ago and it mentioned what Bruno Gaido did, plus him and the pilot being thrown overboard after being captured.
https://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Against-Sun-American-Japan/dp/0394741013
This is an excellent book if you want to read about the war in the Pacific. It faulted the Japanese for making the Midway overly complex just to capture three islands (Midway, Attu, and Kiska).
Felt so badly for Bruno Gaido and the pilot