Friendly Fire Pays Off - True Story of Louis Curdes - The American Ace with an American Victory
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Louis Edward Curdes is an American ace from World War II, and this is the famous story of his taking down of a friendly American C-47 in his P-51 Mustang, in which he would actually get credit for the kill. This was made using the World War II flight simulator IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles series. Hope you enjoy! Please like, comment, and subscribe.
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Thanks for watching guys! Historical notes - His friendly P-51 Mustang that was shot down may have actually landed and ditched into the ocean rather than bail out. I could not get the Mustang to land without flipping in the water, so he bails out in the video. Also, nearly all sources say it was his future wife on board the C-47, but there is at least one source that questions this and says it may have instead been a girlfriend on the transport instead. Hope you all enjoy!
Hey tj3 can you make a another historical video like cpt. Jesus villamor the first and only first Philippine ace pilot that fought the Japanese during ww2 can you make that tj3?
@@lynlynyanig1416 Villamor wasn't an ace. He shot down less than 5 airplanes.
Dear TJ3: ideas for future episodes.
Get the book “top guns” by Black Sheep Ace Joe Foss. It is a compilation of fighter pilot stories mainly from World War II, and it is riveting.
My favorite story from the book by far is “big John.“ John H Lowell was a fighter group commander in the European theater as well as an ace, and the best pilot of his group. He eventually went on to initiate for the Air Force, “red flag“ competition between air group units for combat proficiency.
The story that is most compelling of the many adventures of John Lowell is his revenge shoot down and killing of a Nazi Me 262 pilot.
John, using his superior skills and intelligence managed to chase down an ME 262 in his P 51 Mustang, pulling out all the stops. He killed that Nazi bastard just before the Hun was able to safely land at its homebase. The story is harrowing and tragic.
That Nazi bastard had attacked a formation of B-17 after they had armed their bombs just prior to dropping. He dove down on them and shot the Bomb bay of one of the center B-17’s and the armed bombs blew up taking out several other B-17‘s nearby, killing a score or more of American airmen.
It is gratifying to know that that Nazi son of a bitch died shortly thereafter.
Some may think I’m harsh about the German bastards, but this war was not a time for chivalry. The Germans truly believed - en masse - that they were the master race, so gullible they were, and we had to beat them or the rest of the world was in certain peril.
The whole story of big John Lowell is inspiring. A funny sidenote you might include if you use this story is the situation explained in the book “top guns” where a British hot shot pilot came to their base late in the war with his amped up Griffin Powered Spitfire and challenged any of the P 38 pilots to a one on one duel. Big John accepted the challenge and using tactics that were later embolden in fighter combat theory by the famous John Boyd, he schooled at smart assed, braggadocio Brit.
Even more remarkable is a dogfight at ground level revolving around a giant rock quarry, where big John nearly shot down a very skilled German pilot flying in ME 109. Big John was flying a P 38 lightning and he employed his famous “Cloverleaf“ maneuver to outfly the Hun. Later in a chance meeting with the great German ace Adolph Galland, Big John learned that it was Galland himself that he had nearly killed.
The only reason Galland survived is that big John was running low on fuel, and he had to break off the combat. Galland’s 109 Was already damaged and he was a dead duck had big John even had two more minutes to deal with him. Too bad he didn’t kill that Nazi bastard. Such is fate.
God help us all!... i mean, what a coincidence!
and she stayed with him alll his life too.
…And she had the ability to win every argument for their entire marriage: “Remember that time you SHOT ME DOWN… so you do the dishes.”
You know then! 😋
It goes both ways.
Honey I’m not in the mood tonight I’m really tired.
Remember the time I saved you from the Bataan death March?
I can only imagine the introductions “so how did you meet” I met my ex wife in a parking lot and I’d get weird looks when we answered that question. (It was the parking lot of the church before church but more fun to leave that part out)
“Oh we went on a date during the war then he shot me down” “oh you must have really liked him to be persistent” “no he shot my plane down”
"remember that time you almost flew right into enemy territory?"
Remember the time I saved you from being an enemy POW? It's your turn to do the dishes.
@@imafuturecorpse2443 bataan?
This is a man who, faced with an impossible situation, truly had an "out of the box" mindset and saved Americans (including his future wife) from a bad fate. I love the fact that the military called it a victory.
Rescuing your countrymen and women from being captured, and preventing the enemy from acquiring prisoners and intel can be called a victory without a doubt.
No offense but it was a victory..
"It's maybe not a Knight on a white horse but an Ace in a Mustang will do" - his wife probably
@@remigiuszbisha9658 , that’s close enough.
Gotta go with the instincts, trust yourself
Curdes: “Hey girl, you’re pretty cute.”
Future wife: “Teehee, shoot your shot ;)”
Curdes: so anyways, I started blasting…
tasoanme
He pulled off an Alec Baldwin…except he didn’t kill anyone.
@@BSFilms1997 bruh.. aye aye.. bruh that’s a big violation guy, at none of that brudda.
@@BSFilms1997 yikers
@@BSFilms1997 difference is one knew what they were doing and the others did
It on accident with no knowledge
"Hey Joel, we need you to paint an American flag on on this pilot's plane."
"Ugh, damn fly boys. Can't they do their own art?"
"Actually, it's a victory flag, you know, your speciality."
"What."
"Don't forget the 48 stars."
*" w h a t "*
ｗ ｈ ａ ｔ
“w h a t d i d y o u j u s t s a y”
@@M109TankEnthusiast Hi, i am the Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus
@@MattTheViper sorry I’m 3 mins late to replying, I was watching pornhub
I can imagine the dinner talks between him and his wife.
“He liked me so much he shot us down with a p-51 just to talk to me again”
Curdes knew that his future wife accepting his proposal was a sure thing, for he knew that she had already fallen for him. 😄
This is probably the strangest "How I met your mother" story of all time.
I don't know if they had kids, but I can imagine this scene: "Mommy, tell us about the time daddy shot you down." 🤣
That was bad. Ewggh! Boo! Arrgh! May I steal it?
@@rimshot2270 ,
Certainly. 😎👍
@@michaeltaylor8501 Thank you. 👌😊
The fact that his future wife was on board is the kind of coincidence that, if it was in a movie, would make me say "that only happens in movies!"
Truth is stranger than fiction because real life has no obligation to sound believable.
Make a great movie
Using video games to teach history, now that's a class I would pay for
Noone should have to pay for education.
@@doubleT84 Im America and other Countrys on this World some people still have to, but lets not make this a policital discussion, alright? :)
well elementary and secondary education is free here, but university and college is not.
Yeah for all the pain and suffering that War Thunder causes its nice to see it do some good for once
@@mlc36tva14 LMAO
That's one hell of a second date. Glad to hear she did not ghost him.
Oh she was probably pissed at first a long with the crew, that is until they hear the reason that is.
Incredible joke, underrated 😂
Can you imagine the fear the axis would have seeing an enemy plane with German, Italian, Japanese, and American kill markers?
Id be more thinking (without understanding the context of course) hell, that dude will shoot at anyone, better let him live, he might help me, theres more of them flying round here than me haha
Nobody would ever see them though. First, it would make no sense for enemy planes to be at an angle which would let them see the markings, because attacking from the side is difficult and can put you in a really bad spot, and because you'd have to be really close to see them properly
@@TheByQQ Le sigh
All aspect warrior lol
@@TheByQQ why would attacking from the side put you in a bad spot though?
When I was a child , about 60 years ago , my father was a pilot in the Royal Thai Airforce stationed at Prachuabkirikan province . At that time thisTrue Story of Louis Curdes - The American Ace with an American Victory , had been translated into Thai version and published in monthly magazine for the airmen family. I 'd read this story with much inspiration in Aviation since then . Thanks to the Information Technology nowadays that make another variants of presentation to us .
Long story short: He shot down a friendly unarmed transporter that lost comms because of a storm in order to save it from being destroyed or captured by Japanese forces
@Matthew Curry Did you not watch the video?
@@darksunrise957 It doesn't explain why the transport pilots took no notice of his signals.
@@cnutsack They probably didnt put two and two together they were on a last ditch effort to get fuel and saw a landing strip. When a plane losses coms they cant talk to anyone and in a war planes get seized and used by the enemy alot. They couldve thought he was a interceptor plane coming from an american controlled base. All the wing flap movements say is "turn away" no reason behind why so they probably thought he thought they were enemies.
@@cnutsack They said they had low fuel. With an ocean bellow. Out of nowhere another airmen starts signalling them with no coherent way to communicate. As far as the transport was concerned they were dead folks regardless without landing. It took the outside judgement of Curdes to force a different outcome. At least that seems the case. I don't know if i was them if Id have the judgement to do otherwise.
Thanks
this guy sure had a lot of coincidences... This is how you can spot a true Main Protaganist. It was his story, and everyone else just had to live in it
He was literally the main character 😂
@@kb1598 The guy that shot him down was most likely the main character in his story. No one is truly ever the main character, it can be taken by another character in an instant. I was a “main character” for a few years, the only thing I have now are the memories.
@@neomis0119 bruh nah, dont talk about yourself as a 'main character' that doesnt make you look cool or interesting at all
@@lolcatsname Why the grief and disparaging comments? Sure sign of an embittered 'little man' ...
It's okay. Reality can be hard. You'll make it though I promise.
Kinda neat that he became an ace in Europe flying a plane usually associated with the Pacific Theater and wound up in the Pacific flying a plane usually associated with the European Theater.
There were huge numbers of USAAC and USAAF aircraft used in the Pacific, and whilst the P-38 and P-40 were prevalent in the early days of the campaign, by late 1944 they had been superseded by the P-51, particularly on the long-range escort/interdiction missions over the Japanese homeland islands.
@@big.muscles.ohyeah nope
@@big.muscles.ohyeahThe Japanese had a more accurate term for the state of America at that time.
The Japanese official responsible for the attack on 0earl harbor called us a sleeping giant.
In Japanese mythology, giants were incredibly smart, incredibly strong, and incredibly dangerous. (the Japanese term for giant is Oni)
When the Japanese official said he felt they had awoken a sleeping giant, what he meant is that he knew they messed up.
Of course he didn't realize how badly they messed up 'till we vaporized 2 of their cities, and burned down several others.
@@big.muscles.ohyeah also, you clearly know nothing about World War 2.
America was mass producing aircraft, tanks, and other military equipment all throughout the war, so no he was not "flying whatever planes were available".
Also, kamikaze attacks were not the result of planes being unable to make round trips. Aircraft carriers existed and were perfectly capable of refueling and rearming Japanese planes. Japanese pilots were even specifically to never allow their aircraft to drop below a certain percentage of their fuel.
The real reason for kamikaze attacks was damage to their plane. If their plane was heavily damaged, and and was incapable of escaping back to the carrier (for example, if their fuel tanks had caught fire), rather than put the crippled aircraft down on the water or getting shot to pieces by an American plane, they would slam into an American ship so that their death would be an honorable warriors death and their soul would be able to go to the a heaven of sorts.
While Japanese planes may have been very fast and extremely maneuverable, most of them were made almost entirely out of wood and canvas, and had essentially no armor or protection of any kind, meaning if the plane were to get hit, the bullet would usually do devastating damage to the plane, and had a high chance of severely injuring the pilot as well.
The Mitsubishi A-6M Zero was even nicknamed the flying matchbox by American sailors because a single hit from a machine gun was usually enough to engulf the entire aircraft (and the pilot) in flames almost instantly.
@@big.muscles.ohyeah "Japanese Kamikaze weren’t just a bunch of crazy suicide bombers. It simply wasn’t possible at the time to create a plane capable of making a round trip from Japan to the US, so they adapted the samurai code of honor to their own code."
You don't know what you're talking about, kid. The Shinpū Tokubetsu Kōgekitai (Divine Wind Special Attack Corps) aircraft didn't need to be able to fly a round trip from Japan to the USA and back again, because they didn't attack the US mainland. Not ever. They attacked US naval vessels that were attacking Japan and Japanese-held territories. Their sole purpose was to be more effective anti-shipping weapons than the unguided bombs of the time; they were, in effect, the first cruise missiles. The first use of the kamikaze was in October 1944, well into the war and long after Japan had given up on attempts to conquer the US mainland.
I’ll bet the Brits were a little concerned flying with him after that. One of each baby, let’s go.
That right there, is one of the most interesting, fascinating and entertaining stories I've EVER HEARD. Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.
Ok so,
-Number 1. you and your wingman just bombed a Japanese AFB, your wingman's plane is damaged, and your wingman bailed from his plane and is now awaiting rescue in the ocean.
-Number 2 you find an American plane flying to the same Japanese airbase, they cant respond to your radio and they dont respond to you flapping your wings.
-Number 3 you friendly fire the American plane's engines and found that the crew bailed out and were able to rescue your wingman
-Number 4, You find out that the girl you met yesterday was on the plane you shot!
-Number 5. You became the oddest/happiest friendly fire story ever!
@@MainMite06 if someone read this book they would say this is the worst writing ever. so unrealistic and plot armor.
Imagine Curdes Coming back from a night out with the boys. "Honey did you miss me?" "With every shot so far dear..." bahahahaha.
Pun
Great Al Bundy reference
@@chukty
Glad someone else said it. Such a great show
the gameplay is a really nice touch
gives a very clear idea of what wouldve happened
I hope to see this sort of thing become more popular
Dude used warthunder for a historical video. Funniest shit i've ever seen
@@no3ironman11100 Litteraly, I was like, hmm interesting animation, then... Amazing idea
@@no3ironman11100 It's actually IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles
War Thunder looks prettier and is less accurate on the damage models :D
They do this on the history channel nothing new
it’s a credit to his aiming ability that he hit the engines and not the interior or wings, he could have easily missed his mark and killed the passengers or blown the plane apart
He literally shot down his wife. This has to be one of the most Chad stories I’ve ever heard in my life 😆
Thank you for your service Lt Curdes!
Oh you know she never let him live that down. Any argument takes place "you shot a plane down with me, your wife on board!"
"But we werent-"
"YOU SHOT DOWN A PLANE WITH ME ON IT!"
She should be thanking him daily for saving her from becoming a Japanese POW
"oh im soory i saved you from being executed in a work camp my fault"
"live that down"
He did let her down.
@@shadowxxe that’s a gross oversimplification of what the Japanese would have done to her
@@BoxStudioExecutive yeah, people like to ignore that Japan just had rape camps. Not that other countries weren’t bad. But it no surprise thy even today Korean don’t like the Japanese.
I’ve read and seen a lot of WW2 stories, and this is the first time I heard about cordes. Great production.
Curdes: If I sign I can get my discount card then quit right?
Recruiter: Of course, theres no obligation
Curdes signs
Recruiter: Unless war were declared
Alarm Sounds and lights flash
Curdes: Whats that?!
Recruiter: War were declared
I can just imagine walking up to the military recruitment centres and signing your obligations to then have: *your entire nation go to war the next day!* 🤣🤣
@@MainMite06 Funny until you realize the horror of the joke... The US (which the Esrth Government is basically just a futiristic version of) is always at war. We're in 3 wars off the top of my head - ISIS, Somalia, and Korea (though Korea is "cold" atm), and have been at war every year since the founding of our nation save for 17. Out of more than 200!
@@etaaramin9361 literally the entirety of Europe: "First time, huh?"
Honestly, I think everybody knew we were on the brink of war.
The greatest "how I met your mother " story of all time!
I bet that US kill gets him more politeness from generals.
"Roper 1 lost, along with the mission."
"Not that the cargo was a load worth protecting..."
@@Luke_Danger Honestly, fuck that cargo.
"His companion was alive and safe in the waters below"
- shows him deepdiving to his death, sitting in His parachute
That legit just sounded like a COD trophy...
*Achievement unlocked: Axis Ace. To unlock, shoot down at least 1 fighter aircraft from each Axis Power: Germany, Italy, and Japan.*
War thunder has it if I remember right
@@Zombuny it does but it has a different name, but I think it might include Russian aircraft on that list in War thunder as well if I'm not mistaken. That game is so amazing though
"A match made in heaven: As a fighter ace with confirmed victories against all three main axis powers, shoot down one of your own planes with your date on board and marry her without being court-martialled. 0.00 % of all players got this achievement."
... sounds more like a paradox game
@@strangelic4234 that sounds like the secret achievement nobody was willing to go for lmao must've been too risky for their killcard
He was one of three Americans to shoot down at least one aircraft from each axis power but the only one to shoot down one aircraft from each axis power and an American aircraft. Truly an accomplishment to be proud of.
You need to understand that the DC-3 had been produced under license prewar in both Germany and Japan, so it could just as easily have been Japanese.
Ok and?
@@abdulkarimelnaas7595 but his text tone dont fly by me.
@@YamahaR12015 ✈️🙄
True. The Japanese version of the DC-3 is the Showa/Nakajima L2D, known to the Allies by its code name, "Tabby"
5:32 “Curdes could see that his companion was alive and safe in the waters below”
The pilot: *Proceeds to instantly sink in the water*
“So how did you know he was the one?”
“Well when he started shooting at me I was pissed at first…”
I had a chance to see this aircraft at the Pima Air and Space Museum. It sits next to a B-29 and being able to see these two warbirds was a really cool experience, it's nice to get more context to the story printed on the plaque in front of this P-51
Amazing to hear how one guy can get so many unbelievable stories in his life!
In 1982 I was stationed at Great Lakes naval training station. I remember reading a memorial for two recruits that had died from a German seaplane raid gone wrong. The planes flew from Germany with their bombs, and refueled off of Nova Scotia by a submarine. They had more headwind than they were prepared for and dropped their bombs on the first opportunity they had rather than the primary target, the steel mills near Chicago. I would be very interested in any more information about that event.
"When did you two know that you were meant to be together?"
Svetlana: "When he shot down our Plane on the coast of Japan...I knew"
*And that children is how i met your mother!*
Japan? Try Thailand ... the two are only about 3,000 miles apart. 😉
"When did you two know that you were meant to be together?"
"When he shot me down."
"Wait, what?"
@@ThePhoenix198 Eh, close enough
5:33 "Curtis could see that his companion was alive and safe in the waters below" literally drowns 😂
Excellent story recounting a very interesting and important bit of military history! I enjoyed the integration of your gaming footage. That made your presentation top notch, imo! My hat's off to you on a job well done, brother!
Epic story but can we just take a moment to appreciate how the uploader had to fly the planes in a video game to record the scenes. That's epic too
How has this not been made into a movie? This is amazing
because Hollywood would screw it up!
“How’d your date go last night?”
“I had to shoot down her advances and let her down easy…”
“Oh-“
“So we could get married.”
“What?”
[American plane is lost and bingo fuel]
Louis Curdes: "I'm going to do what's called a pro-gamer move"
The original Pro gamer move that is! 😁
Really digging the true story series….well done.
I'm 68. Totally new story for me, thank you. With millions in the war on both sides there are probably millions of "totally new stories to me out there."
I wonder how often he brought that up in fights. "If it weren't for me, you'd have been a Japanese POW!"
"He took down an airplane from esch one of the Axis countries: Germany, Italy and Japan"
Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Slovakia: **cries**
Finland wasn't axis, they were neutral. They fought the Soviet Union because Stalin was trying to invade them separate to anything else happening during world war 2
@@pikgears No. They were a co-belligerant of the Axis againts the USSR and the UK, but for all intents and purposes, they were an Axis power. That's what most historians agree on, and what most pages will tell you.
The thing is thag the Finnish weren't fascists or wanted to accumulate power, they're alliance is out of necessity and they had to wash up that image after the war.
@@_MrMoney The axis invaded Finland
@@monkeyman2074 You literally couldn't be more wrong. The Axis was allied with Finland.
@@_MrMoney Lapland war
What a story what a guy . Doesn’t get much better than that .
he took shooting his shot to a whole new level
That was one lady that had no chance of getting away.
Excellent post! Timing is everything in life. And your timing for this post is darn near perfect! :^)
Every time I hear Pearl Harbor I think of my great grandfather who was on the first boat over after. I didn't know about this untul after his passing... He never talked about his time in the Navy...
RIP Papaw... I'll see you on the other side
So strange. Single combat, man to man, your weapon, all metal flying machines with piston engines and machine guns seems stranger than fiction and it happened before most of us were born. Wild wild history.
And they remainded married for their lifetime...The kind of beautiful story we like to hear about.+++
I'm sure their children used to ask him, "Daddy, tell us again about the time you shot down Mommy."
because he knows that when its her turn to shoot him, she wont miss lmao
This man had a very interesting story.
Great video.
What a hero with an awesome life and happy ending too.
Thanks for the great recreation,
And thank you Commander Curdes for your service and great heroism.
This pilot is a classic gamer achievement runner…
Got to get them all
Excellent research, video, and narration. Sounds like maybe the makings of a good movie. 👌😎
I knew Louie and Val when I was kid in Ft Wayne IN. Very wonderful nice people and family. I just found out yesterday he is a war hero, and my mind is blown. Just had no idea of his amazing story is. Proud to have known him and his wife Val.
What a story! This has to be made into a movie.
wow! What an awesome guy!!!! so proud to call myself an American, thanks to the sacrifices to men like this!!!!! We so badly need men like this in our day and age!!!!
That's a Helluva story. Love it.
This guy absolutely had the coolest story to tell his grandkids ever. “Grampa, Grampa! Tell us again about the time you shot down nana!”
This guy must have had great confidence in his marksmanship. Seems awfully tricky, if he had hit a fuel tank in the wings or the fuselage this story might have had a much more tragic ending which might have haunted him for the rest of his life. Must have had the luck of the Irish and an angel as his wingman.
A large percentage of US aircrew who fell into Japanese hands in the Pacific islands during WWII were not taken prisoner, they were beheaded.
Nasty fate.
Read two native Maori fighter pilots from new Zealand were captured and taken too Japan and they were too have their heads cut off on the 6th August 1945. Butt just before they were too cutt their heads off the first atom bomb was droped on Hiroshima so they were let go. if it had not been for that atom bomb they and other allied prisoners were too get their heads cutt off-sic.''
Normal soldier:you just made a war crime
Curdy: BRUH
Love how WW2 is full of amazing stories and coincidences like this one, great video
Man, it would have been an absolute honor to have met that man while he was alive.
And this, kids, is how i met your mother
Now that's funny.
Damn good shooting. Couldn't have been easy to only hit the engines.
"So, how did you fall in love with an Ace?"
"He shoot me out of the sky!"
Word around the campfire is that my Grandpa was a P51 Ace in the Pacific. Heard that the Chinese (not Japanese) had a bounty on his head. Anyway I could confirm this and other stories? I know I can request a DD-214 but thats about it. He was also awarded the Service Cross medal which I remember seeing displayed in his office.
I like the story… it’s extremely entertaining, and it’s too crazy but to be true.
My man shot down a plane from every nation of the major Axis Powers.
@@@ Finland//Crotia/ Thailand/ Croatia,- ????
I should be sleeping, it is four in the morning but because of tour channel I can't. So many stories I'm descovering ! Thanks from France, very god job.
That's a story a man can never live down. Not matter what happnens in their lives she can always says, "Remember that time you shot down the plane I was in?" "But I saved you honey." "You didn't know that was going to work that way, etc." On the real though its great to hear these stories, with happy endings.
I guess he fell one British and one Russian kill short of having a kill from all the major allied countries as well :)
Another fascinating historical video. I sure do love these. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that IL2 Great Battles do a Pacific Battles campaign. There are some brilliant dogfights you could cover. James Pug Sutherland vs Saburo Sakai. Swede Vejtasa downing three Japanese zero's whilst flying the SBD Dauntless dive bomber. He later became an ace in a day flying the F4F wildcat. David McCampbell, the USN Navies top scoring ace and medal of honour recipient becoming an Ace in a day during the Great Marianas turkey shoot. Or there's June 19th 1944 where lieutenants George R Carr, Alexander Vraciu and Ensign Wilbur 'Spider' Webb all became aces in a day in an air battle over Guam.
This takes the saying "shoot your shot" to a whole new meaning
Not the same style of delivery as Mark Felton but this is the kind of history I love from WWII thanks for the sharing the story.
Great story! Such an interesting and amazing twist, especially with his future wife being on board! Thanks for bringing it to us.
In his book Samurai! Saburō Sakai described the incredibly difficult to shoot down B-17. The Japanese pilots were desperate for any intelligence that might indicate how to shoot down the Fortress of an airplane.
Then one day they looked out to see a B-17 lined up on final for their airfield. Everyone was just gob smacked as the plan landed and rolled to a stop. Had they captured a B-17 intact?
When one of the anti-aircraft gunners started shooting the B-17 pilots gunned the engines and took off again.
It turned out that the pilots were American and they had landed on the Japanese base by mistake. The pilots quickly realized what they had done when they started getting shot at. They were lucky to escape. The pilots were enraged at this lost opportunity and wanted to murder the gunners who, after all, had orders to shoot at enemy aircraft.
Still it was a rather stupid thing to do.
Sakai also mentions that his friend (another fighter pilot) was shot down and killed flying a Japanese C-47.
I was surprised Japan had a number of these American built airplanes. He never explained how the Japanese got them. I suppose they either commandeered DC-3's from Japanese Airlines or they got C-47's from Douglas before the war.
So we know that at least one Japanese C-47 was shot down by Americans.
Actually, this is a licensed copy of the DC-3, built by two companies, Nakajima and Showa under the L2D designation.
If anyone is interested Louis Curdes p51 D “Bad Angel” is currently on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum
That was a fucking amazing story...... and thank you VERY much for the visuals ! They really make a huge difference !
Imagine being able to say that your husband literally shot you down the day after your first date
That was a fascinating story - thanks for sharing. You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried. Hollywood probably wouldn't make a movie of it because it is too far fetch, instead making another Fast and Furious movie instead!
Those lightning are the coolest aircrafts I have ever seen!
I have no idea why this was in my UA-cam feed but I’m glad I found it
Awesome story. He was a hero for sure. The Japanese more than likely would have killed them. Keep up the good work, you have a fan in me!!
Great video however I would have loved to hear what the story was for the crew inside the C-47 while being shot down by a friendly.
Hollywood needs to get on this shit, this is literally a plot ripped straight from a movie!
Thank you. Very heartwarming.
At least his future wife didn't shoot Him down! Thank you, I'll see myself out.
Username checks out! Trying to come up with a good joke for that shot down line, good job!
You deserve way more subs my man
Working on it!
That was one of the best and most interesting stories I've ever heard. Thank you.
"how did you two meet?"
"He shot be down in the Pacific"
That's a weird and slightly hilarious story.
Dad, how did you get mom to marry you? She was trying to get away and, I shot her down.
I really like your little documentaries, please keep doing them. Thanks.
Love your History Videos about the War! Can u imagine how he would have felt if he had somehow killed someone in this plane. For taking the action he took. God! Was was with him and the people on board that plane. Please keep these bits of history comimg.