The story's full headline and sub-heads:
“Honour in the skies: The day a chivalrous German flying ace saluted a crippled US bomber and let them fly to safety instead of shooting them down”
“Charlie Brown's B-17F bomber had come under fire from 15 enemy planes during successful mission.
Franz Stigler pursued it, but when he saw the damage he let it fly home to safety, guided by the moral code laid down by his commanding officer.”
Just like the stories you hear from Afghanistan now — no, wait…
Once again such a heartwarming story of compassion in a era of conflicts. The picture of the B-17 is similar to the B-24 that my Dad flew in the underbelly inside the round ball as a gunner. I was told by a pilot of the plane that those little guys usually “got killed first” and that I was lucky to be born. WW2 fighters always bring tears to my eyes. God Bless all 16 million of them and the enemies who took pity on them.