Small World True Story
Small world story...............
great story.
Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton , England . His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.
After flying over an enemy airfield, a pilot named Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.
Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.
Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to and slightly over the North Sea towards England . He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe.
When Franz landed he told the C/O that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.
More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.
They met in the USA at a 379 th. Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now - all because Franz never fired his guns that day.
Research shows that Charlie Brown lived in Seattle and Franz Steigler had moved to Vancouver , BC after the war. When they finally met, they discovered they had lived less than 200 miles apart for the past 50 years.
God Bless Our Troops! 9/11 We Will Never Forget!
I Support George Bush's Efforts To Stamp Out World Terrorism.
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Nice story ATF, thanks! 0 -
quote:Originally posted by MT357
Nice story ATF, thanks!
Yep!0 -
salute with honor...both 0 -
[:D][:D] 0 -
very moving. 0 -
There are many instances in WWII where comradship overcame political differences. German and American soldiers sitting down to a Christmas Eve dinner together and such did actually happen.
Only in the American Civil War was there a greater number of gentlemen.0 -
Good read, ATF. Thanx!
I've read any number of stories like this, I wish someone would compile as many of them as possible and put them all together in one book!0 -
that was an exceptional read, Thank you 0 -
Great read, thanks for sharing it....[:D][:)][8D] 0 -
With all the crap you hear about going on today, it's great to read something that's inspiring. 0 -
That was during the day when our enemies had honor and compassion and genuine human caring, even for the people they were ordered to kill. 0 -
Poignant.
Thank you.
D.0 -
War is a strange thing. It brings out the worst in humans, but it sometimes brings out the best. I'm not comparing the following to the story above, but there is a parallel.
My late father commanded an artillery unit (Century Division 373FA) during the push into Germany. He was a "Son of (nannyware) B I T C H I E" and many times recounted the battle for Heilbron. His units sat on one side of the city and the Germans on the steep slopes to the east. Our units waited for any movement and plastered the Germans with white phosphorus. My dad hated what he had to do. He could never get past the horror of being hit with that stuff, but the Germans were shooting back and it was war.
Later toward the end they were advancing into Germany sometimes 30 miles a day. On one occasion a small group of German soldiers were spotted walking down a road perhaps five miles from our positions. Orders were to fire on them and my dad complied. Luckily the shells were close, but not spot on. The poor Germans were scared to death but unhurt and my dad ordered a cease fire.
The decision wasn't taken well by his superiors, but my father stood his ground. The Germans were beaten and this small group of frightened men were no longer a threat to anyone. Killing them would have served no purpose and my father elected that they should live.
He was a deeply good and honorable man. I miss him every day and am so proud that he knew the difference between being a warrior and a murderer.0
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