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The B-17 and the Me-109

Somewhere over Europe A B-17 flies Strafed and damaged In her enemies skies The flak has taken Its toll on the plane This crew so brave In this theatre of war campaign Many hours have passed With no sight of the channel Only land ahead Is it our instrument panel A shout is heard from the rear of the plane A Messerschmitt ME-109, beside us flies We are sitting targets for another kill The pilot turns his head, as i look into his eyes He is making a gesture For us to turn 180 degrees Do we believe our enemy But we eventually agree He continues to fly Like an escort of question Were we right to agree His degree of suggestion For up ahead we see The glint of blue water Our horizon of hope Are we saved from slaughter Moments later As i turn my head again A wave from the German As he banks his fighter plane We are now well over the channel As we sight the white cliffs of Dover Our B-17 in struggle This mission near over On the runway at Kimbolton The fire crews stand ready Will our plane take the landing Is our undercarriage steady Touch down we make As we talk of our flight back About the German fighter pilot Who refused to attack It is now many years later For we were lucky, we grew old As we assembled on anniversary Our story could now be told For he had kept it his secret But now we have to say Franz Stigler and his German fighter Is why we are before you today He was scrambled to intercept The enemy that we were then When he arrived we awaited The fate of us men When he viewed our plane He couldn't believe his eyes Why something so shot up Still flew in his skies When he returned to base In his reports he states It went down over the sea And sealed our fate After all these years I am so happy we have met We have lived many years While our lost colleagues have slept I thank you Sir For sparing the lives of my crew As we stand together for peace We salute you This is a true story from WWII, written by request for Sara Kendrick, who loves to challenge me, and i thank Sara kindly for the opportunity http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/war-6.php

Copyright © | Year Posted 2010




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Date: 3/8/2010 9:16:00 AM
Awesome answer to Sara's challenge James! As always your talent shines through! Superb job! Thanks so much for sharing this powerful story and message! God Bless~Mary
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Date: 1/17/2010 7:23:00 AM
Well I sure am glad she challenged you, James. It brought out the best! Wonderfully worded extraordinary story! Can hardly believe it is true. Almost sounds like fantasy, doesn't it? great job! -Robert
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Date: 1/16/2010 3:48:00 PM
I was sure I had answered this one. I was so highly moved by this story. I am glad you found him again. Thank you for commenting on my "Wild Love". I am posting "The Blackberry and The Rose" which I wrote first and then wrote the other side of the story. Love, Joyce
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Date: 1/16/2010 3:47:00 PM
I was sure I had answered this one. I was so highly moved by this story. I am glad you found him again. Thank you for commenting on my "Wild Love". I am posting "The Blackberry and The Rose" which I wrote first and then wrote the other side of the story. Love, Joyce
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Date: 1/16/2010 12:31:00 PM
Great story told in poetic form. This way many more people will know of the story how a German pilot could not find it in his heart to shoot down this damaged plane with the wounded inside. Keep your creative and magical pen flowing. Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my verse. Sara
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