Continuity mistake: After giving a toast for Roy at the bar, Dick and another soldier are walking along the sidewalk when they hear a car honk behind them. As they turn, some navy sailors pass them by as they turn around. The camera cuts to a different angle and suddenly the people who passed them are gone, with others much further down the sidewalk. (00:32:12)
Continuity mistake: When the B-26 bombers from Midway attack (aside from being to many as mentioned in another posted mistake) the overhead view of the formation shows the B-26 in the back, middle of the formation hit. Both engines erupt in flames and the bomber starts to drop from the formation. The scene then cuts to the Japanese gunners' perspective, showing the B-26 formation from below. The bomber in the back, middle of the formation is no longer on fire and moments later the B-26 just forward and to the left is hit and the engines start to burn. If this was intended to show an overlap in time of the same scene, as simultaneously viewed from two different perspectives, then the visual effects of the flames, from the Japanese perspective, was applied to the wrong bomber in the formation.
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the movie, after Best has bombed the Hiryu, McClusky and Dickenson are standing on the Enterprise deck, speculating on where Best might be. The view behind them is toward the bow of the Enterprise and you can see the sun low on the horizon. Dickenson turns toward the stern, with the camera view from behind him and looking towards the stern. Again you see a view of the sun low on the horizon, this time off the stern of Enterprise.
Continuity mistake: The ack-ack Japanese gunners seem to be the same 2 on numerous ships and carriers. One grits his teeth and the other has a long concentrated look.
Answer: Good eye! The gunner's seat in the Douglas SBD was on a swivel. The military rating was actually radioman/gunner, and when facing forward, he had access to a suite of radio equipment and a set of basic flight controls! He could actually fly the SBD from the rear seat, although this is never reported to have been necessary in combat.