A Higher Call

[Gregory Matthews]

Adam Makos & Larry Alexander.  A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-torn Skies of WW II.  1912, 392 pages.

It was December 20, 1943.  High over the skies of Germany a B-17 bomber had completed its mission.  In the process  AA shells had shot the airplane up.  A crew member were dead.  Parts of the aircraft had been torn away.  The machine guns were useless.  and the aircraft was full of holes.

In attempt to safely get the remaining crew members safely home Pilot Charlie Brown descended to a few hundred feet over the ground and embarked on a long journey. 

Meanwhile, on the ground Franz Stigler, German fighter Ace was inspecting his aircraft, when he noticed a badly damaged B-17 flying low and nearby.  With a word to the ground crew, he jumped into his fighter and took off of another easy kill.  He hated the Americans with a passion.  His brother had died in combat.   In retribution, it become his mission to shoot down as many American planes as he could. 

Quickly he was upon the stricken aircraft.  As he flew around it he could see the dead and wounded crew members.  He looked into the face of the young pilot who was  struggling to keep the aircraft in the air. As his finger rested on the trigger that with one pull would end the flight of the B-17 and give him one more kill, he thought of his brother.  As he thought of his brother, he remembered that his brother had fought with honor.  He defended Germany against enemies who intended to cause immediate harm.  His brother would never send to their death wounded, helpless, people.  In honor of his brother, Franz Stigler made a decision that he knew would result in his death if it ever became known. 

Stigler determined to guide the B-17 to safety.    He knew that if were to fly in formation next to the B-17, the German  costal AA Batteries would not shoot at them.  So, he guided his fighter into position and flew along side of the bomber leading it safely to the ocean. 

The book listed above tells the story of these two pilots and that flight.  The U.S. Air Force classified the story as Top Secret and prohibited the crew of that B-17 from telling anyone about it.  Stigler knew that if anyone ever found out in Germany, he would face a firing squad.

Some 40 years later the two pilots met. For an inspirational book read it.