Great story

[1CAVCCO15MED]

History is the sum total of the actions of individuals. Within those actions are many unique stories.



This is a great true
story of a World War II event. There can be honor among warriors.
Look carefully at
the B-17 and note how shot up it is - one engine dead, tail, horizontal
stabilizer and nose shot up. It was ready to fall out of the sky. Then realize
that there is a German ME-109 fighter flying next to it. Now read the story
below. I think you'll be surprised.....









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 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.



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, ba ck to
Europe



When Franz landed he
told the CO 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
379th 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!



True



http://www.snopes.com/military/charliebrown.asp



THIS