Death of a WWII pilot

Hell of a story! When this thread reaches the number of posts it deserves. "Thank you".
 
3393RP said:
How does someone receive "hundreds of medals"?
Click to expand...

This one's for typing....and this one's for dart champion....

FWIW, WWII guys did not get hundreds of medals. Half the medals/ribbons you see service members with today were created since then.
 
Or perhaps none of this happened. Overstreet filed no claim for the Eiffel Tower "kill", and there's no after action report by him describing this occurence in "Spring 1944". His accounts of action grew as he aged, and almost all of his claims are unsubstantiated.
 
Duped again by the liberal press! What a genius! Outlive the witnesses and get the French to award their highest medal. Not even subject to the stolen valor act, foreign medal.:D
 
Last edited:
3393RP said:
Or perhaps none of this happened. Overstreet filed no claim for the Eiffel Tower "kill", and there's no after action report by him describing this occurence in "Spring 1944". His accounts of action grew as he aged, and almost all of his claims are unsubstantiated.
Click to expand...

Really? Why would you post something like this?
There were hundreds of witnesses to this event, including a former IBM colleague of mine who told me about this event decades ago. He was a twelve year old kid, and saw it with his own eyes. When I was in the Air Force, ('69-73) this stunt was legendary among pilots. Everyone knew about it.
Also, there is a really good reason why you don't document a stunt like this, not even in wartime. It's called a courts martial. Flying under things, like bridges or the Eiffel Tower was strictly forbidden. You never, ever log something like this in your logbook. Anyone in the squadron or wing chain of command can ask to see your logbook at any time, and they often did. If you were stupid enough to log it, this sort of thing could be a career ender.
 
These WWII soldiers are becoming more rare each year. My wife's uncle is 92 and still pretty sharp minded. He flew P-51s in the Pacific. I can sit and listen by the hour to his stories, and they are not all exciting edge of your seat stories. Some are just stories of everyday life around the bases. He would tell of one small island they would fly over often on return trips. The Japanese would always shoot at them with small arms rifles. They were high enough it never was a problem. I will miss him and his generation of story telling.
 
Last edited:
they are all true hero's in my book

dan carley
 
No photographs, no mentions in books, no wingman, no corroborating stories that I can find.
 
3393RP said:
No photographs, no mentions in books, no wingman, no corroborating stories that I can find.
Click to expand...

In an era slightly before social media, google glasses, and camera phones with 1080P video, it's not entirely surprising that there are no photos of the event.

How many photos are there of the first plane hitting the world trade center, nearly 60 years later?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top