Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown: a Small Compromise in The Midst of a Conflict

Charlie

Charlie was the pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress which was called Ye Old Pub. He was born in West Virginia on a farm. He had milked cows and lived without electricity. He went to school every day and he worked as a janitor at his local elementary school every night. He served in the National Guard on the weekends and after graduation he moved on to the full time army. Although Charlie was only 20 years old when he became a pilot he lied about his age to seem older so his crew wouldn’t worry.

The Quiet Ones Charlie’s crew, otherwise known as “The Quiet Ones,” had earned that nickname because they never did anything out of line. They each had their own part on the plane and everybody worked together. Charlie considered the men his family. He never made them salute him on the ground but in the air he always made sure they knew who’s boss.

Each member had their own specific part on the plane. Charles L Brown was the pilot. Luke G Spencer or “Pinky” was the copilot. Albert Sadok, otherwise known as “Doc” was the navigator. Robert M Andrews, (Andy) was the Bombardier. Richard A Pechout, the Radio operator. Bertrand O Coulombe, nicknamed “Frenchy” was the top turret gunner. Samuel W Blackford (Blackie) was the ball turret gunner. Lloyd H Jennings was the right waist gunner. Alex Yelesanke, the left waist gunner, was called Russian, and Hugh S Eckenrode, or Ecky, was the tail gunner.

Franz’s Childhood Franz was born and raised in Bavaria Germany. Franz had been born Ludwig Franz Stigler but had decided to go by Franz. Franz had one brother, Gustel Stigler, who went by August. Franz had become interesting in flying from his dad, also named Franz, and a catholic priest, named Father Josef, who were both World War One pilots. Franz was part of a glider club in 1927 and became the youngest member to fly the glider at age 12. Franz and his friends built their own glider when they were kids by selling scrap metal for blueprints and materials. Although Franz always had a knack for flying On his first flight, Franz froze with fear and crashed straight into the ground.

Franz’s Military Life

After high school, Franz planned on becoming a priest, like his mother had wanted. One day, Father Josef talked to Franz and told him to do what he wanted to do. So instead he decided to become a pilot. Franz studied aeronautical engineering at the University of Wurzburg, until he was given an envelope that had his orders in them. An officer told Franz that his country needed him. Franz would remember “You didn’t decide when you became Air force, they decided for you.” Franz had been put through training to become a pilot, but instead of going straight into fighting, Franz was assigned with teaching new recruits how to fly long distances.

In 1939 Franz’s older brother, August, enlisted into the air force and became one of Franz’s pupils. Franz knew how dangerous war was and made sure to train his brother extra hard to ensure survival. But that didn’t work. In mid-October in 1940, August had crashed during takeoff. August and his entire crew had been killed. Franz blamed himself for the crash. But he mostly blamed the British for the war, who he believed had started it, and he later joined the war, in 1942 for revenge. In May of 1942, Franz shot down his first plane and scored his first victory. But instead of feeling accomplished, he felt hollow, being guilty of killing a man.

December 20, 1943On December 20th of 1943, Charlie was assigned to go on his first mission, he was on a bombing run to destroy an aircraft facility in Bremen, Germany. On the way his group ran into German fighters who tried to shoot Charlie down. Charlie’s B-17 was badly damaged. One engine was broken and one was damaged. They managed to injure his crew and kill his tail gunner. Charlie would remember “I had one that couldn’t walk. One that couldn’t use his hands. One with a leg blown off, and one dead.” Charlie’s plane started to fall and almost crashed into the ground, “I do remember being inverted, pulling up over the trees, at this point we were totally helpless.” Charlie was able to make it to the factory and drop the bombs but because of his broken engines, Charlie was left behind. Franz heard Charlie’s slow moving plane and raced to shoot it down. If Franz was able to shoot Charlie’s bomber down, it would land him 30 victories, and qualify him for the knights cross, the highest Medal of Honor for the German air force. Along with the medal, it would earn him respect. He raced to Charlie’s bomber and cautiously got closer. He began to wonder why the tail gunner had not shot him yet. As he got closer he saw the condition that Charlie’s plane was in. he saw the bullet holes that had injured the crew and killed the tail gunner. He saw the broken engines fighting to keep the plane aloft. Franz thought back to what his squadron leader, Gustav Roedel, said. “If I ever see or hear of you shooting down a man in a parachute, I will shoot you down myself. You follow the rules of war for you, not for you enemy. You fight to keep your humanity.” Franz would say ”...For me, It would have been like shooting at a man in a parachute. I just couldn’t shoot.” So instead, he escorted Ye Olde Pub across the series of flak cannons. He faced punishment and possible death to save a man he hadn’t even met. Franz let honor and humanity overcome fame and fortune. Alone they never would have made it, but with a German escort the flak cannons couldn’t shoot. He followed them back to the ocean, then saluted Charlie and pinky. He turned around and hoped that the bomber would make it home.

After the War

After the war ended Franz was an outcast. He used to be considered a hero but after the war people blamed pilots for the destruction of Germany, and now he was considered a villain. He moved to Canada and settled down. He tried to forget about the war but he always wondered if the b-17 he had saved ever made it home. Charlie continued to serve and flew many more missions before retiring in Florida with his wife and kids. In 1987, Charlie began searching for Franz and eventually discovered he was living in Vancouver. They arranged to meet in Florida the summer of 1990.Franz gave Charlie a book on German fighter jets. Inside the book was an inscription that read, Franz Stigler (Left), and Charlie Brown (Right), on fishing trip together.