By Ahsan
A lot is going on in the world today, and the future of humanity sometimes seems headed towards a period of decline. We have wars, racial and religious tensions, and children who lack love, security and even food.
But now and then, we hear about kindness and compassion at times when you would least expect it. So lean in to read about one such remarkable story from not too long ago.
Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England.
His B-17 was called “Ye Olde Pub” and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters.
The compass was damaged, and they were flying deeper and deeper into enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.
After flying the B-17 over an enemy airfield, a German pilot, Franz Steigler, was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17.
When he got closer to the B-17, he could not believe his eyes…
In his words, he “had never seen a plane in such a bad state”…
The tail and rear section was severely damaged. The tail gunner was wounded, and the top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage.
The nose of the plane was smashed, and there were holes everywhere.
Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at the English pilot, Charlie Brown.
He saw that Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.
Aware that Brown had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn around 180 degrees.
And then Franz did a remarkable thing.
He escorted and guided the stricken plane back to the North Sea and England.
He then saluted Charlie Brown, turned away, and headed back towards Europe.
When Franz landed, he told his commanding officer that he had shot down the B-17 over the sea.
He never told the truth to anyone.
Meanwhile, back in England, Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told everyone at their briefing what had happened but were then ordered never to talk about it.
More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the German Luftwaffe pilot who had saved his crew. After years of research, Franz was finally found. Franz had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.
The two pilots met in the United States at the 379th Bomber Group reunion…
… together with 25 people who are now alive…
… all because Franz showed mercy and compassion and never fired his guns that day.
When asked why he didn't shoot them down, Stigler later said, "I didn't have the heart to finish off those brave men. I flew beside them for a long time. They were desperately trying to get home, and I was going to let them do that. I could not have shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting a man in a parachute."
Today we need more compassion in the world.
Today we need more understanding and love in the world.
Today we need to think about compassion instead of shooting people down because they are different from us.
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