“There is nothing good in war, except its ending.” -Abraham Lincoln

‘The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants.”-Albert Camus

In 1943 Charles L. Brown was flying a B-17 bomber over Bremen, Germany to bomb the Focke-Wulf aircraft production facility. This factory was guarded by more than 250 flak anti aircraft guns. Brown’s B-17 began its ten minute bomb run at 27,300 ft. with an outside temperature of 76 degrees below zero when his plexiglas nose was hit and engine #2 was damaged. He was forced to drop out of formation, which made him an easy target for the German gunners below.

A dozen enemy fighters began shooting at him. The bomber’s internal oxygen, hydraulic and electrical systems were damaged. Several of the gunner’s weapons were jammed, leading to frozen firing mechanisms. Many of the crew were wounded. The tail gunner was killed by a shot from the ground; another crew member was critically wounded and another’s feet were frozen.

When the damaged plane was spotted by Germans on the ground, one of them, Franz Stigler, an “Ace” with 27 victories, took off in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 and quickly caught up to Brown’s plane. As he flew beside the American plane to complete kill number 28, he could see the injured and incapacitated crew through the damaged and open airframe.

To the Brown’s surprise, the German did not open fire on his cripple bomber. Stigler had recalled the words of his German commanding officer: “If I ever see you shooting at a man in parachue, I will shoot you myself!” Stigler later said that this was the same as if they were in a parachute. “I saw them, helpless, and I just couldn’t shoot them down.”

Stigler flew close beside the American plane so his fellow Germans on the ground would not fire and he escorted the damaged B-17 across German territory until it was over open water. Stigler then saluted Brown and departed.

Brown was able to land his plane safely in England. In the debriefing he told the officers that a German pilot had let him go and helped him escape. He was told not to repeat this story, lest other pilots get positive sentiments about Germans. Stigler said nothing of the incident to his commanding officers, knowing that it would lead to a court martial. After the war, Brown returned to his home in West Virginia. Stigler went home to Germany. In 1953 he moved to Canada.

Forty three years later (in 1986) Brown wondered if he could find this unknown German pilot. He searched for four years. Then he wrote a letter to a Combat Pilot Association newsletter. A few months later he received a letter from Stigler. “I was the one!” he wrote. When they spoke on the phone, Stigler described his plane, the escort and the salute. He was indeed that German pilot!

Between 1990 and 2008, Charles Brown and Franz Stigler became close friends and remained so until their deaths within several months of each other in 2008. In 1993, Stigler was presented the “Star of Peace” by the Combatants Federation of Europe. In 2008, at Brown’s request, crew members of the American B-17 were each awarded the Silver Star. Brown himself was awarded the Air Force Cross. The incident was the subject of a novel by Adam Makos, A Higher Call, and the Swedish heavy metal band, Sabaton, wrote a song about it, “No Bullets Fly.”

This story reminds me of the Christmas Truce of 1914 when Italians, British and French soldiers saw a white flag in the German trenches on Christmas Eve and came out into No Man’s Land to trade mementos, visit and even play a game of soccer.

As evil as the heart of man is, there is something inside us that longs for peace; for friendship; for fellowship. That longing was put there by God.

“War is Hell.” -William Tecumseh Sherman

“…my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives…” -Jesus