The B-17F "Ye Old Pub" was attached to the 379th Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force, stationed at RAF Kimbolton in England. "Ye Old Pub's" first mission with a new crew, December 20, 1943, targeted a Focke-Wolf 190 fighter production facility in Bremen, Germany. After the successful bomb run, pilot 2nd Lt. Charles "Charlie" Brown's B-17 was severely damaged by German fighters. Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler had the opportunity to shoot down the crippled bomber but did not, and instead escorted it over and past German-occupied territory to protect it. After an extensive search by Brown, the two pilots met each other 50 years later and developed a friendship that lasted until Stigler's death in March 2008. Brown died only a few months later, in November of the same year. This heroic story is detailed in the bestselling book, "A Higher Call". If you get a chance, you should read it.
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These Men were the GREATEST GENERATION