Amazing story of B-17 & German Fighter in WW2

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 the B-17 over an enemy airfield, a German 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.

www.fourwinds10.com...

- Nice historical story from good acts in bad times... Make you feel better!

In every war there are stories that come out that prove the humanity of the people that are forced to fight.

Great story.

Truly touching story. Really reinstates faith in people, even in times of war to do the right thing. S&F

[edit on 22-5-2009 by phi1618]

wow thanks for the story man, thats awesome

that Stigler fellow is a real class act for sure! what integrity

So war can be fought honorably after all? In some cases yeah.

Excerpt from article:

"THIS WAS BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS HONOR IN BEING A WARRIOR...THEY PROUDLY WORE UNIFORMS, AND THEY DIDN'T HIDE IN AMBUSH INSIDE A MOSQUE, OR BEHIND WOMEN AND CHILDREN, NOR DID THEY USE MENTALLY RETARDED WOMEN AS SUICIDE BOMBERS TO TARGET AND KILL INNOCENT CIVILIANS...HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED......"

It was also back in the days when SS troops shut Russian civilians into churches, only to burn them down. It was also the time when the English and American Air Command fire-bombed the defenseless German city of Dresden twelve weeks before the Armistice, and burned approximately 30 000 civilians to death, for no good reason at all, and it was also the time of the two atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, totaling approximately 220 000 mostly civilian deaths.
In perspective, it wouldn't surprise me if one or two ambushes during WWII took place in disguise of churches or civilians.

I'm only trying to say that humanity - regardless of race and religion - is capable of the best and the worst.