“You’re in God’s Hands Now…”
Hereʼs a true story I received from
an old pal last Christmas; and to me
it was an overwhelming lesson in a
triumph of humanity over zealotry.
I had nearly forgotten my intense
empathy for those pathetic inno-
cents throughout our planetʼs his-
tory who fought and died for their
Larry Wonderling
leaders, whoever they are. It ran the
full gauntlet of emotions for me, and I wonder how it will
affect you.
* * *
“The 21-year-old American B-17 pilot, Charles Brown,
was on his first combat mission. His bomber and most
of his crew had been shot to pieces. Glancing outside
his cockpit, Brown literally froze. He blinked hard and
looked again, hoping it was just a mirage, while his co-
pilot stared at the same horrible vision.
“My God,” the co-pilot said.
“Heʼs going to destroy us,” the pilot agreed.
What happened next was one of the most remarkable
acts of chivalry recorded in World War II. On that De-
cember 22, 1943 day, Second Lt. Franz Stigler jumped
into his fighter for another kill that would win him the
coveted Knightʼs Cross, Germanyʼs highest award for
valor. Stigler had been standing near his fighter when
he saw the B-17 flying so low it looked like it was about
to land. Stigler quickly took off in his fighter and as he
approached the crippled bomber, he decided to attack it
from behind.
The American fliers were looking at a gray German
Messerschmitt fighter hovering just three feet off their
wingtip.
Half of Lt. Brownʼs bomber had been destroyed by
swarming German fighters, half his crew was wounded
Part 1
and the tail gunner was dead, his blood frozen in icicles
over the machine guns. When Brown and his co-pilot
looked at the fighter pilot again, both were stunned.
The German didnʼt pull the trigger. Instead of attack-
ing, he nodded and saluted. Flying behind the sputter-
ing bomber, Stigler had squinted into his gun sight and
placed his hand on the trigger, then he hesitated. No one
in the bomber had fired on him. He looked closer at the
tail gunner, who was still, his white fleece collar soaked
with blood. The B-17ʼs guns were knocked out and one
propeller wasnʼt turning. Stigler pressed his hand over the
rosary he kept in his flight jacket. He couldnʼt shoot.
Alone with the crippled bomber, Stigler changed his
mission. He nodded at the American pilot and began
flying in formation so German aircraft gunners wouldnʼt
shoot the slow moving bomber. Stigler escorted the
bomber over the North Sea and took one last look at
the American pilot. Then he saluted him, and peeled his
fighter away back to Germany.
“Good luck” Stigler said to himself. “Youʼre in Godʼs
hands now.”
– Larry Wonderling, Ph.D.
Email: [email protected]
pccnews
November 2017
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