Franz & Charlie 

respect for both men!

You are so welcome Mike.

Truly honourable men, and Franz put his own life at risk. For him to see all of his family’s children and grandchildren must have been a seriously moving moment? I have shed tears every time I write about these two great men. You must be so proud to have known a great man in Charlie? The code of honour for them both to get through war and keep it quiet for nearly 40 years. To find that man who saved your father in law’s life is also a Miracle on it’s own. As German loss of men and machines was colossal! So this is a great story of why war stinks! The best anti war story ever! And knowing they both had to go back up in the. Aid and forget about each other. Though Charlie hasn’t forgotten that deed of humanity, you’ll never see in war today! Is there any other film of these two great men together that can be shared with us here? Damn I’m set off again with tears streaming down my face thinking of them and what they both endured that day, in 1943 is a connection that I’m sure they never ever expected to have themselves? For a moment the war had ended and Franz was helping a fellow aviator in real trouble needing help in landing. That’s the moral of it or am I wrong?

When it boils down, both Charlie and Franz were the same: Airplane jockeys who had a job to do, and both knew that if you have a soul, you are human. Human they are, human they shall always be. Two different men of the same family. Hold your fire, wave and grin. You shall see him, someday again.... Horrido, Herr Stigler, Godspeed Charlie.

Amazing part of history!…. Somewhat an emotional story

I'm crying idk why but I'm crying

That’s probably for the best all things considered. They lived through hell once.

The passed away the same year like an old married couple lol amazing story

RIP friends will be friends RIP

Už létají spolu RIP. Rytíři nebes- láska k létání a pokora a úcta a respekt ,hlavně lidskost jejich osudy zamotala a to je dobře 😎 Pro mě jsou ne hrdinové ,ale ukázka toho že přeci jen lidstvo má potenciál

Both died in 2008 rest in piece

Peace*

Your name contrasts your message pretty boldly.

I believe his commanding officer in North Africa told his squadron members, if I ever see you shoot at an airman in a parachute I will shoot you down myself, Franze considered the men in the B17 as helpless as a man in a parachute and honoured what his old CO had said.

He's quoted to have said "it would be the same as shooting a man in a parachute" and his mentor and commander had previously told him "if any man shoots at a parachute, I'll shoot you myself!". These German corps had a strong code of honour regardless of how they're portrayed in media.

Yeah that "sometimes i wonder why i didnt shoot" line killed me

Thank you for your nice words. Unfortunately not many of the Wehrmacht acted like him. Tody USA and Germany are friends like Franz & Charlie

@@gregfloh7732 thats fucking bullshit especially with english french and americans the germans acted well in the rules of war thats in part due to the german soldiers not even understanding why they were fighting them in the first place the soviets on the other hand were a threat !

Yes You should be proud to be German because it’s a great nation and it was the nazis who were responsible for the war, they were the bad guys not the pilots and soldiers and the country as a whole

Viva yall, the strongest off all if not mislead and misguided by those corrupt with power

You guys are amazing, kind and wonderful people. I can’t wait to go back to Germany, to Berlin (for the second time) for my 40th next year with hopefully my first baby. ❤️✌️👍 from 🇮🇪

You Germans have created some incredible things throughout time world leaders in many aspects your engineering and culture is one to admire so be proud of your ancestors

Be proud to be You. Your ancestors sins are not your own. Germans have been the bad guys before but most were forced, it was their life or the "enemies". Even outside of that, there are plenty who didn't give in and remained steadfast. Be proud to be German. Your ancestors 80 years ago were the bad guys. Not you. You are a German, not a N@z1. Plus yall have some amazing culture, beer and food. Be proud to be German.

He may have been talking about his comrades

@@SuaveJoker 109s

​@@SuaveJoker no his own planes

@@SuaveJoker nope, he was talking about his own planes. There were quite a few german aces that went through a whole lot of shot up planes. Hans-Ulrich Rudel went through even more planes.

@@XpVersusVista yeah even Erich Hartmann, with 353 victories, lost 16 109s

We would be in a great pickle if all the kids went on a 27+ kill streak and then spared one crew haha

As a German I would love it but sadly this does not fit the Propaganda of the second world war and the west. there is many many many many more stories like these from German soldeirs, they were no monsters. the were given orders and fullfiled them till the last men

I would like it to be shown, even if just briefly covered as the part of history covering that people in war are still human. Yet given it was during WW2, I feel like it is unlikely. School curriculums (And this is from someone in Canada, so it goes beyond the USA) tends to portray WW2 in a very black and white view despite it being closer to describe as grey vs black. Though the Nazis made that pretty convenient with their horror. But that will not stop me from sharing this story with my cousins when they start learning about the World Wars in school, and I would certainly advocate to have it added if it were possible

Even in today's textbooks the Axis powers are made to look awful. There should be stories like this in to show everyone is human.

You did great . It's their loss that they didn't pay attention.

Bless you buddy for making a effort . I’m guilty of trying to preserve or history to the mindless fools of today.

I respect you for your efforts...I am Charlie Brown's son in law and I loved both Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler....without this act of heroism...I would have never met Charlie's daughter Kim gotten married and had my wonderful son....so I am blessed they met in the sky that day and happy to know they become "brothers"! History has a way of making lives possible.

@@mikearnspiger9715 i would like to see some actual proof that your his son there pal other wise you havr just made a stupid and a very very bold claim there just to get attention

@@mikearnspiger9715 you don't know how much that means to me...my eyes are watering

Thanks so much for your story about your grandpa RF.

@@iijg27rich36 Call me Richard. 🙂👋🏿

Thank for you're nice comment I'm so glad this old tape lasted so long and I finally converted it to digital for folks to enjoy

It's a sabaton song if you didn't know already.

In all times German Soldiers were the highest respectful men

absolutly...

It's not a story, it's a life critical situation

Believe it or not, there are other similar stories; one I read about a Japanese pilot and copilot deciding to crash into an American bomber sitting on a runway. They did but nothing happened. The pilots became fast friends the years following that crazy day.

@@dink7278 huh?

@@dillonbledsoe7680 exactly 😂 what is he even saying

Sabaton!

inspired by this story, the greates i think of WW2

he risked his life, 2 times that day, to save an unknown enemy

@@harrisonmauldin5090 Escorted safely out of the kill zone! A short salute, then departed!

@@soaringeagle175 Fly fighting fair That’s the code of the air Brothers heroes foes

yeah it's an amazing book

I agree, in fact, if you read my comment I talk about using a slideshow. The quote of what a Nazi was was the first thing on my presentation, and again nobody, but the teacher, wasn't paying attention.

When I met Franz...he was very, very adamant about the fact that he was a Luftwaffe pilot and NOT A NAZI!!!!

It’s an EXCELLENT book !

there was a time when more than a few of us said the same thing about LBJ, you grow up believin' and then get sucked into the whole deal.

It has that effect on a lot of people Brain : )

Me too

Glad you liked the video Bjorn

I'll suggest another great story for you: The Battle of Itter. Get this: a German Wehrmacht commander named Josef Gangl sacrificed his life to save French political prisoners from the Nazi SS that were trying to kill them. He did it by teaming up with a US Army regiment in the area, and despite some early tensions, the Germans and Americans fought well together and saved a dozen political prisoners from the Nazis.

@@Thomas.Wright yes Thomas it is a remarkable story during actual war both sides agreed to fight the SS together. Unfortunately the German major was killed by a German sniper shortly after the picture of him and the American officer shook hands in a photo of them. More good Germans who hated war but hated the SS more!0

@@bmcg5296 Watching the new Sabaton History right now.

Forgot to mention: the band Sabaton has great songs about both of these events: "No Bullets Fly" and "The Last Battle." They also have their own history channel where this historian named Indy explains the history behind the events. (No, I don't think he ever melted any Nazis with any ancient Hebrew artifacts).

@@Thomas.Wright thank you, I will certainly look this story up 👍🏻

Read "a higher Call" great read. Stigler was a great pilot who loved flying above all else

It's actually one of the more well known events of chivalry and respect in WW2, but yeah it's not that well known in mainstream media.

cuz it portrays a german soldier as being something other than an inhuman monster

@@hairglowingkyle4572 b/c its corrupt.. wouldn't want people getting the wrong opinion about nazi ? not sure why... but the story is being supressed no doubt.

Cause the media wants to refrain from portraying any Nazis as being humans with a heart who really didn't want to fight others in fear of being called "fascist, racist, Neo-Nazi" or so on. Its unfortunate, as there are many Nazi soldiers who were respectable people but had little to no choice to serve. Some soldiers were pure evil, like the ones posted at concentration camps or the higher ups, but others were just people.

the story is a nice one, but would've been better had no soldiers fought - if all had refused.

@@genkiferal7178 ???????????????????????????????????

@@Djp1989 there'd be no war if all soldiers and others involved refused to participate

You may get a kick out of this ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iKZVxb9rT68.html

I highly recommend the book "a higher call" by Adam Makos it follows their careers pre and post incident. You'll cry like a baby like I did

It'll slowly come back once the generations who ignores it fades out of important roles

Because it's far better to not take risks than to get shot in the back

there's a few problems with that statement. The US multiple times shot at red cross vessels during this "more chivalrous time" if anything people may be more conscientious today, but the fact is pilots do not see their targets before firing anymore. Charlie was so close he could see into the bomber. Now a missle would be fired from miles away to take out another aircraft. Then you get into jihadis and other fanatics pretending to be dead so they can blow themselves up or trip off an IED when you walk by it, and compassion is harder to find by design. And thats just what they want, to make the enemy look ruthless, to get more fighters to their side.

​@@asphalteater615I think he is talking about footage of wounded soldiers being killed im the ukrainian trenches by grenades droped from drones. There is no risk in sparing them.

He was an honorable man...

I'm from NY too

Franz was a man of men just like Charlie Brown.

See Sabaton: no bullets fly. Song about this story.

@@NewCoke-PepsiMan84