Great story of a German pilot who did NOT shoot down a wounded American plane in world war II and how the men ended up meeting each other 50 years later. Most of the book was about the German pilot and what he went through during the war. And that was really interesting to read about. Author did a nice job researching the story ( )

I think the title of this book should be, "Franz Stigler, German WWII Air Ace." The description of the actual encounter between the Me 109 pilot and the B-17 crew takes only a few pages in the middle of the book. And, unusually for this sort of book, there's very little background of the American pilot & crew. But we learn all about the early life of Franz, all the places he flew in WWII, the different aircraft he flew, how the war ended for him, what happened to him after the war. So if you are looking for a description of a German WWII Lufwaffe pilot, search no further, this is a gold mine. If you are sucked in by the cover and want to read a blow-by-blow description of an encounter between a Me 109 and a B-17, read the middle and skip the rest. ( )

https://www.instagram.com/p/69xoGmTKP9/ ( )

It is almost impossible to describe the range of emotional responses reading this story invoked within me. As a patriotic American and the great-grandson of German immigrants to America, this story touched me on many levels.

This is the story of two men, pilots in their respective country’s air forces, meeting in a chance encounter in the skies over Germany. This meeting would eventually go down in history as one of the most amazing tales of World War II.

I stayed on the edge of my seat reading this story. It was very hard to put down even when I needed to. It was like I became Lieutenant Charlie Brown and the fate of ‘Ye Olde Pub” and the B-17’s crew was in my hands. I also became the pilot of the ME-109, torn between my humanity and the orders of the Nazis government that I secretly despised. We do not hear the words combat and chivalry used in the same sentence these days.

I became totally engrossed in the characters on both sides! This book made me wince. At times it made me chuckle. In addition, this story tugged at my heart and there were several times it even brought a tear to my eye. ( )

As someone who lost family in the Holocaust, I have alwYs viewed German World War II military personnel with a very jaundiced eye. It is refreshing to know that there were many anti-Nazis who did their job because they were defending their homeland, not because of political ideology. This book is a moving and refreshing view of an honorable man who committed an honorable act. ( )