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I'm fortunate to own a Lady Jeanette A-2 painted flight jacket, that came with a box full of WWII letters from the man who wore it.

William E Metzger Jr was my great uncle and I am honored by his service and the fact that he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was only 22 years old when he was KIA. I wish I would have had the opportunity to meet him.

Remember this, they were little more than what we would call kids today. They knew enough to know there was a real chance they were not going back home and yet they still went on those missions. Real hero`s.

war is an act in which unknown young people kill each other in the name of old acquaintances hidden behind desks. This story is a tragedy.

Lest we forget.

los b-17 y los b-24 eran los favoritos de Georg-Peter Eder derribo 36

hay un piloto aleman olvidado George-Peter Eder no fue de los mejores ases solo derribo 78 aviones de los cuales 56 eran estadounidenses, pero si el que derribo mas b-17 y b-24 con un total de 36 cuatrimotores, en 17 ocasiones el fue derribado y volvio al combate, termino la guerra volando un me-262 en el cual consiguio 14 derribos

@TheTxBandit thank you for your assistance.

Het is niks bijzonders, maar ik was de chauffeur van de ladderwagen bij deze uitruk... Vandaar

respect to all those men and everone who helped save my country in those planes, if it wasnt for you guys i might be speaking german!

i hate it when the press today makes iraq and afghanistan seem so horrible and then blame the army for its tactics, and call it a pointless war. More people would die in one day in WWII than all of Operation Freeedom in iraq and afghanistan. Im not saying todays war against terror isnt horrid, but our generation truely doesnt understand war like past generations, and the sacrifice it takes.

@diverongases Thank you for the sentiment, diverongases. My Dad was a ball turret gunner on B-17's. He loved the British people. When you get here, I'll buy you that chili dog.

@golfprobro4eagles Hitler wore way better looking clothes than Obama. I don't like the Nazis but they were some pretty snappy dressers. When you'r military has a skull on their helmet you know there not building schools or helping people!

Now, before you label me a racist because I don't like the man, I would have voted for Alan Keys in a heart beat. This guy can't even say his own name without a teleprompter. So far, the terroist who tried to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day is not being tried as a terroist. Three Navy SEALS are being court marshalled for slugging a terroist and he will not stop it. Hitler Nationalized companies when he came to power, for the first time in our history, it's happened here now, by Obama.

Kildeby, if you want examples, how about calling a white policeman stupid? Then when a black army officers kills a number of his fellow troops, he says "Let's not jump to any conclusions." That sounds pretty racist to me. He had NO business making that comment about a civilian police officer, and would not have done so if the other person involved had not been black. As to people of color in the US, I know several who think he is a total idiot who should never have been elected.

cdfe3388: "Hitler was regarded as a liberal ..." Certainly not! His first public was disgruntled ex-Imperial Army members, the most conservative part of Germany at the time. Hitler and his SAs were as much liberal as Charlton Heston and the NRA members...

Anytime a political leader rises to high office from out of no where, history has shown that to be a very BAD thing.

Believe it or not, I actually hope you are right. I will be very happy if my fears prove unfounded. I'm not one of those dickheads who wants something bad to happen just so they can be right. I fear any politician (of either party) who possesses his ability to convince so many people to blindly follow him. After all, isn't it the duty of any responsible citizen to question his/her government? That is my point here.

It's kinda hard to ignore his long close association with Jeremiah Wright. In his book (sorry, don't have it handy for direct quotes, though I HAVE read it) he repeatedly cites "being white" as a reason for disliking someone. And let's get something straight here. I'm not chanting "Obama is evil," or any of that crap. I am uncomfortable with the similarity, but there's a difference between "similar" and "identical". I'm just saying that it is dangerous and complacent to ignore it.

No, but they were similar. A country facing severe economic downturn is run by a government percieved to have utterly failed. A charismatic liberal candidate with known racist views rises from obscurity with a message of "Hope and Change". Many voters are so mesmerized by his charisma that they support him without knowing much about his actual policies and plans. Hitler was regarded as a liberal in 1931, and Obama has made racist statements in the past. Not the same, but similar

I seem to have read more history than you. Again, I say only that there are similarities. I don't go around shouting "Obama is evil!" You insist that I must be a "dumb hick" (a very prejudicial description that demonstrates ignorance, arrogance, and unjustified hatred every bit as much as any racial slur) because I hint at disagreement with you. You seem offended because I dare to question your clear intellectual and moral superiority, your histrionic dismissal of a valid point.

So I'm a hick because I read history, recognize parallels, and don't blindly accept what MTV says? I'm not saying that Obama is Adolf Hitler reborn, I'm just pointing out that there are similarities. These may turn out to be meaningless, or they may hint at a darker purpose behind our new president. But am I an idiot for recognizing these similarities, or are you an idiot for ignoring them? Or can we just disagree like mature adults without insulting eachother?

Not entireley true. General Eaker supported precision bombing, but the technology was far less effective than advertised. Many strikes were inaccurate, and losses were heavy. As a result, the 8th & 15th Air Forces often had little to show for the loss of dozens of planes and hundreds of our men each day. RAF Air Marshall Harris (who had lots of political pull) called it a waste and insisted that US bombers join the RAF in his "Area Bombing" strategy. So in 1944-45, it happened frequently.

What about Nagasaki or Hiroshima? Were they not cities? German historians have since concluded that perhaps only about 15k people were killed at Dresden, not the inflated 200k. Bombing from the heights B17's bombed from was nothing more than carpet bombing and they frequently hit civilian areas by mistake. War is not pleasant, bad things were done by all sides but the American's were no angels, neither were we... nobody is an angel in war.

Keep in mind the "Prussian Clause": If a soldier of the Imperial German Army (pre-1918) recieved an illegal or immoral order, it was his sworn duty to God and the Kaiser to disobey said order and prevent others from following it, even shooting the officer giving the order, if necessary. This remains today in the US UCMJ and laws of many other nations as well. It was quoted at Nurnberg in 1946. "Just following orders" is no excuse. We still bear personal responsibility for our actions.

Better Germany than Japan. See Sarastarlight on RUclips.

cdfe3388,watch the behaviour of the massive crowds during a match of football and you will be terrified! There seems to be a small piece of reptile left in the top of our spine which is causing this agressive display of power. Hitler found the correct pushbutton to activate it,so have many other dictators sofar. The reptile bit in all of us causes totally innocent Joe the Plumber types to turn into Nazi fanatics,provided the arguments are being received to be correct and justified.

Of course the people of Germany are not sick murderous fascists by nature, but niether were they innocent. If anything, it's a demonstration of the terrifying, mesmerizing power of a charismatic maniac like Hitler (who bears many uncomfortable similarities to Barack Obama, but I digress) that he could get the otherwise civilized people of Germany to commit such acts. There were many good people in Germany. But you have to call bullshit on the "just following orders" mentality.

And EMS203,putting all arguments aside,i have the deepest respect for the USA crewmen who freed Europe from Nazi occupation! I have been in compulsory service at some stage,but never under fire,i might as well have shitted my pants in a B-17 over Germany! I am from Holland,both my parents had their share of war between 1940 and 1945. Nevertheless,i still believe that German people are no different than other people,let us hope that there will never be dictatorship in Europe again!

For to those interested in the circumstances surrounding the Nordhausen (Dora) V2 factory,i have listed 5 clips in my favourites,language is German but clips say it all. Over 6,000 V2 rockets were built there,over 20,000 convicts died in the process,they were hardly given any food or water,most had to obtain water dripping from the mine rock walls.......

EMS203,i am still waiting for YOUR list of underground factories. The Nordhausen issue came from my side,apparently you were not aware of the actual circumstances about this factory,were you? Were ME-109 and Focke Wulf 190 fighters produced underground? Were Tiger tanks produced underground? Were railway locomotives produced underground? Were engines for planes and trucks (Mercedes!!!!) produced underground? Do some reading!

One lesson learned from the german raids on London in 1940/41 was that the will of the people could not be broken. Neither was the will of the russian people broken during the massive bombardments of Stalingrad. Much later,the will of the vietnamese people was not broken during the Hanoi x-mas bombardments by war criminal Nixon. At random means that bombs were thrown on streets below without having any specific target in mind. Nazies were having total control over people,even in April 45.

Nordhausen was not a purpose built underground factory,it was a deserted mine which Speer found very suitable for the production of the V2 rockets.The USAAF and RAF did not know of it,and as such attempts were not made to destroy it,although at the very end the barracks for the convicts in the open air were straffed by planes,in the mistaken belief these were barracks for german solders...... . If you have ever seen pictures of this place,incl. those of the railway yard,you will remain silent.

Yeah, that was one of the few times the RAF hit industrial/infrastructure targets (and a badass flight, too). Some RAF/RCAF guys worked out some fairly effective ways to hit precision targets at night (nearly as accurate as our daylight strikes, i.e. better than nothing), but Harris refused to implement them, even after they had been proven effective. Speer said a lot of things after the war, some true, some bullshit. The goals of the Schweinfurt raids were optimistic at best.

Yes, I've heard of him. In fact, I could write a Goddamn paper on Harris. Did you know what his primary contention was with General Eaker of the 8th? He insisted that all US bombers participate in his strategy instead, while Eaker was a firm believer in precision bombing. But by 1944, Harris got more and more support as the 8th & 15th AF took heavy losses but were unable to shut down German industry as promised. Thus our strategy changed for some strikes.

Yes we did sometimes bomb neighborhoods like the British. Why? Apart from the obvious, political pressure. Our "precision" daylight raids usually weren't very precise and often did little if any damage to the intended target, yet dozens of planes and hundreds of men were lost on every mission. Churchill openly called it wasteful, and felt "area bombing" would deliver better results for the losses we would take. Many of our leaders agreed with him. What can I say? War is hell.

You're a fucking idiot. Two thirds of all Medals of Honor are posthumous awards, meaning the medal is presented to the surviving wife/parents/children of the man who was killed. Try reading the citation for some of them, and then tell me you think everybody should get one. Fucking shitbird...

Yes, we usually (keyword: USUALLY) tried to hit factories, rail yards, etc. However, we also greatly overstated the accuracy of the Norden bombsight at high altitude. Why did we send up 300 planes at a time? Because we needed that much spread to have a reasonable chance of hitting the target. Why bomb from high altitude? Because going in with a heavy bomber at 7000 ft (optimal for the Norden sight) was suicide. At 25000, a heavy bomber had a fighting chance.

there already are medals for people that have fought in wars this medal is for the ones that paid the price of war and gave there own lives to keep us save so whats so stupid about it

You bet!

Warmest Regards, lancsdude63

Freedom comes at a price in which our troops are paying for as we speak in Iraq and Afghanistan etc, God Bless them and help keep the safe, May God look after the ones who have already laid down their lives in the name of peace.

Dear IK 1963, Your sure right there in lot`s off country`s in europe there are hero`s to be found, let`s not forget why they lost there live`s and remember them. persluchtboy.

Look at the faces of these young men, imagine the fear they felt, their drawn out attempt to save a colleague. Some medals are won by moments of near madness, theirs must have taken hours of courage. I only hope the first explosion was final. I am inspired to think man is capable of this, and humbled to think there are so many of these stories out there. "Freedom does not come free"

You wasted 3:30 of my life. Good for the crew but you might have included why they got the Medal of Honor. That woulf be a very helpful piece of information, you agree?

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