being a retired US Navy veteran, I have been able to meet other retired veterans. My wife works at Asbury Solomon's, and she introduced me to the oldest living West Point grad and P-51 pilot who flew during WWII. He's Col. Kermit R. Dyke and passed away in May 2019. It's awe-inspiring and humbling at the same me meeting such men and women who helped change the direction and out come of WWII. Our WWII vets are almost gone, thanks for keeping their experiences alive, may we never forget what they did for all of us.
The memory of their sacrifice and heroism sustained our country. It's up to successive generations to keep it. The need for sacrifice and heroism surely will come again. However, there are reasons to doubt the current leadership's ability to meet such a challenge.
Amen to that I had the privilege of knowing and being a friend of a P-51 mustang pilot that flew off of Iwo Jima with the bombers in world war II actually log of flight with him in my log book he told me about his experience with the wind compression he told me that was the scariest thing he ever had done to him rest in peace mr. Willie you have not been forgotten
Seeing a grandfather like figure touting the terms "torque", "compressibility", "trim tabs" and describing things we learned from sims only, really give me a chilling realization that they're the real deal and we're just kids trying to follow their footsteps and shadows.
Young men have absolutely started wars in order to show their daddies that they are big boys now & aint gonna cry when getting butt bumped by the entirety of winning army. Yep war rape was common & men were often targeted worse than what happens to the woman especially since they usually hope that the women are impregnated
I could listen to Ed McNeff all day and then some!! Integral part of the greatest generation! I have no idea where these super brave men and women found the strength and fortitude to go to war and fight tyranny but my gratitude to them has no bounds!! Jim C.
Yeah they sure do need to be recorded but they need to be recorded by educated historians with actual professional credibility who will do these interviews without any bias and has the integrity to verify as much as possible & anything that is just unverifiable needs to be declared as unverified. Saw one of these the other day. A 90% of it all was an advertisement for getting a trip in an old fighter/bomber. The rest was the old timer just telling stories that are so clearly beyond the expected & perfectly acceptable levels of exaggeration.... And then this very same narrator in this video kept using the term "bad guys" to refer to opposition forces. shits dumb.
If he “recanted” his experience it means he retracted what he has said. “Recounted” is the term you were searching for. I will say this, I am really sad that so many stories went to the graves of these brave men. I said as such in a comment section of another video and someone said “Who cares”? I said, well I cannot cure stupid so good on you, pal.
Ed is a national treasure. Thank you for preserving history and reminding us that there was a time when men strapped themselves to flying machine guns and threw themselves into hell.
Well said I was honored to have a friend that was a 50/50 1 mustang pilot that flew out of Iwo Jima actually got to ride with him in his plane and mine both long all of that in my pilot logbook that's more important that my solo first he passed away at 96 and was still flying and restoring Piper tri-pacer took him all expenses paid to a trip to Sun and fun in Florida I truly miss my you will never be forgotten wilio Foreman rest in peace my friend
I wonder how most of them got into the cockpit with them big balls they were sporting God love them all in their contribution to freedom you will never be forgotten ever
Thank you TJ, for all your time and effort saving the stories of the true heros before they are lost forever. Great story as always, looking forward to part 2.
My grandfather, Richard Irwin Kuehl, made the same journey this man did. P47's at Duxford and graduated to P51's. He was an ace, he also was shot down and captured by the Germans for a brief time. The germans executed all the American airmen at this particular camp---except my grandfather. His last name, KUEHL is the name of the town mentioned in this vid when he was diving on the ME 109 and encountered compressibility over, Kuehl, Germany. My grandfather lived to 99 years old and passed in 2020---with his family at his side and I was holding his hand. We will never know a greater generation. I miss my grandpa more than words can express. He NEVER would have allowed America to degrade like we are. He'd have rallied the boys and stopped the commies in DC. Love you, Grandpa. See you after we fix this.....
America is still the Nation to beat in the world! Else why do so many travel at great peril to get here while many other nations try their best to bring USA down!😡 Keep fighting America, never give up!🤗🤗 DJ
Love this video, Ed was very good at recalling his experience as a fighter pilot. That snap roll the German pilot pulled when pursued by was a difficult & clever move, showing how skilled the Luftwaffe pilots were at this stage of the war. Sadly for the Luftwaffe when these pilots were lost the new, hastily trained replacement pilots were not very good & often were easily shot down by the more experienced Allied pilots. Adding to the problem was that the Me 109 could only be flown well by an experienced pilot. However if an Allied pilot encountered one of the surviving veteran Luftwaffe pilots it could be a deadly surprise.
Awesome! Just awesome! Good on you for interviewing this vet. If we don't do it, we lose out on what is an important moment in history! Much love from Canada!
Well done, TJ! On March 16, 1944 the 8. USAAF attacked aircraft factories in Augsburg, Ulm and Friedrichshafen. 740 heavy bombers and 868 fighters came into bad weather and so some of the bombers attacked "targets of opportunity". Because of bad weather, heavy clouds and snowfall the I. and II./JG 1 (Fw 190 A-7) didn't have contact to the US armada. But a few Bf 109 G-6 of III./JG 1 had dogfights with Mustangs over the area of Ulm. No air victories were confirmed by the German pilots. Lt Hans Halbey reported, that they were low on fuel, so they had to return to their base. So it could be, that Ed McNeff escaped, because the unknown but experienced German pilot of III./JG 1 (probably) didn't have enough fuel to finish the lucky Mustang pilot. Can't wait for part 2 of Ed's story :)
A friend just told me about this video. I've been researching a fighter pilot by the name of Leonard B. Fuller of the 355th Fighter Group. 357th fighter squadron. I just looked at my records. I have goosebumps. This man flew with Leonard. He was in the same squadron. He flew on the same missions. I have the records. I see his name. I would love to contact him. Please tell me this heroic man is still with us.
You may want to check out the book "Thunderbolt"---there are a lot of other pilots depicted in that book, I found my grandfather in there and I think you might find your friend there too
TJ I felt like I was in the cockpit of the P-51. It was an amazing, emotional and very well done video. Congratulations one more time. I look forward to the next ones. Thanks.
This channel is soooo underrated, Tj you do a marvelous job and have quickly become my go to channel for amazing air warfare history. Keep up the great work.
18:25 Oh how the turn tables Just giving you a hard time, outstanding video as always and thank you for giving this grizzled pilot a chance to record his story.
I have two, one of which was a relative. About 10 years ago, I was at a Veterans Day ceremony at the university I was attending at the time. Well, calling it a ceremony is a bit generous - it was just an outdoor speech with a flyover by the local CAF timed to the speech's closing. Anyway, I ended up speaking with the oldest veteran who was there. He was a Navy veteran, but he was not wearing a baseball cap that showed his ship, which was a little surprising. We talked a little bit, and I saw he was wearing pilot's wings. I pointed it out, and he said originally fought in the Pacific as an F4F Wildcat pilot. I asked him if he had flown at Midway or Guadalcanal, and apparently, those specifics caught him a bit off-guard. He quickly recomposed himself and said that his time started just as Guadalcanal was wrapping up. I then asked if he transitioned to the F6F Hellcat later on. My question surprised him a bit, but he answered with a slight smile that he did indeed. The highlight came when I then asked which carrier he served on. He answered, "CV-10," to which I immediately said, "The Yorktown? And the Essex-class one at that, huh? Then again, the previous Yorktown was lost at Midway, and you said you came in after then, so that makes sense." The look on his face said that he did not expect someone as young as me (I was in my mid-20s then) to know about the Yorktown or as much as I did about the timeline of the Pacific theater. He asked me why I knew what I did and what had to have sparked the passion needed to know those details, I told him about my great uncle (paternal grandfather's brother) who fought in the Pacific as well, but he was in the Army and was a part of MacArthur's escort back to the Philippines. My great uncle had said that he had shot at Japanese soldiers, but he never hit, let alone killed any, at least not as far as he or his unit knew. My great uncle's unit managed to get through their tours without suffering any serious injuries or casualties - a couple of Purple Hearts but no actual losses. They stayed silent about their seemingly supernatural luck/protection out of fear of possibly ending it if they spoke of it to anyone while they were still serving. They finished with no awards beyond the aforementioned Purple Hearts, but as far as they were concerned, getting through more-or-less unscathed was enough of an award for them. The only things from the war he brought back home with him were the M1 Garand and M1911 that were issued to him (their provenance is verified and certified), and before he passed away, he gave those to my older brother, who has been properly caring for them since. I regret not getting that Navy veteran's name. He has likely already passed away, and I hope he went peacefully.
Other side of the war, my Dad was a member of the Navy's new fighting construction battalion, the Seabees. They turned atolls into emergency landing strips in the South Pacific. Saved lots of men and areoplanes.
My father finished advance flying school (the schools were ground, primary, intermediate and advanced, if I remember correctly) in 1943. The whole class signed up for a P-47 group forming up in Maine. The Air Force needed about half the class and took them alphabetically, starting with A. I noticed that in Chuck Yeager's book, his buddies had surnames toward the end of the alphabet.
In August of 1944, Robin Olds faced a similar predicament, where he and his wingman attacked a formation of 60 109s. During the fight, he saw a P51 and dived down to save him, only for compressability to kick in. He managed to pull out of the dive, just feet above a wheat field, but in the process, a glass window in his canopy frame broke off, startling him. Please do a video on this! And Operation Bolo!
I love how you're preserving history. What great stories from a great pilot, Ed McNeff is a treasure! Keep making excellent videos, I'll see you on War Thunder, thanks!
This is more than story telling; this is archival work that is Very Important. That None Would Forget The Struggle Of War, and The People Who Fought Them
My dad flew P-51's and P-47's in combat in the ETO. 354th FG (Pioneer Mustangs, first Group to fly Mustangs in the ETO. Also had the highest aerial kill score), 355th FS (Pugnacious Pups) Dad got a "probable" on an Me 410, and heavily damaged an Me 262. He never claimed any kills, he told me he was there to do a job, not rack up a kill score
This is a great story, thank you for taking the time to put it out there, Looking forward to the second half, Ed McNef, is a great pilot, thank you sir, for your service and duty to country. Outstanding American. Keep up the great work, and find the Vets and l them tell their stories, so we may never forget. Freedom is not free.
On Christmas Day 1944. US Quad-50 batteries in the Ardennes had been ordered to hold their fire as "friendlies" were operating in the area. Not all them got the message, or just had itchy trigger fingers. 4th FG ace Donald Emerson suffered the same fate on the same day, only by British AA.
These vídeos that you make for us with rich details, true stories and passion makes us feel these emotions for real. We fall in love right off the bat. I'm your vídeos buff. TJ thanks once again.
My Gramps flew out of Gander protecting the convoys . He and crew ( Wing Commander John Young) sunk U-520 a type IX. Its a wonderful story with a terrible ending.
The P-47 shown as Ma Fran 3rd was Norm Olson's OS-P. He was only 355th FG ace to score 6 VCs in the P-47. All other 19 aces were flying the P-51. Olson was killed by flak after strafing Gifhorn airfield with McNeff on his wing on April 8, 1944. The mission of March 16th resulted in the 355th FG to destroy 14-2-3 for loss of 2 (both to JG 26) in area surrounding Munich/Augsburg. The one mission in the P-51 one week after converting from P-47, resulted in scoring 1/2 of P-47 victory credits for the six months prior. General McNeff was also engaged in several of the 355th bigger air battles, on April 24, July 7,August 16th and November 26th 1944 - combined 70 LW fighters destroyed for seven 355th FG losses (4 to flak).
I absolutely love this content, been a aviation nerd my whole life, especially towards air combat during all of the major conflicts. Do you plan on talking about Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm in the future?
Some fun facts, the original P51 Mustang was armed with 4x 20mm cannons, about 500 were built The A51 Apache was a dive bomber version of the P51, hundreds of those were also built.
My grandfather flew the P-51D against the Japanese, and loved that plane until he died in the 70s. --- Re: German pilots-- One reason they became so good (and they were *very* good) was because, unfortunately for them, they didn't "get sent home" after a set number of missions. Because of the nature of their homeland "becoming the battlefield," they simply had to keep flying until they died... Looking forward to pt. 2 of this story
Excellently done TJ!!..Like you I am also fascinated by WW2 aviation. And love seeing and hearing these stories of the men and women of the greatest Generation.
I've heard stories about p47 pilots having to turn back to England because of lack of range even though they saw the Luftwaffe in the distance waiting to pounce the bombers. I can't imagine the anguish that must have felt like.
@@kenneth9874 Absolutely. The P-47 was totally capable of escorting the Bombers with drop tanks. It's just sickening to think of how many airmen were lost because of that bureocratic nonsense.
My dad retired as a Chief Master Sargent from the Air Force in 1971, but the most favorite plane he ever worked on was the P-51, even after working on various fighter jets after, but his P-51 was his, it belongs to the Captain in the sky, but it was his plane on the ground 😊
My Dad was a WWII Army Air Corps pilot and spent the whole war as a flight and gunnery instructor. Checked out in almost all the fighters in service. He kept requesting a combat assignment but was always told he was more needed as an instructor. In 1945, he became a Pinball Pilot in P-63s and much later told me that fighter could outperform any other he ever flew himself or went up against except at high altitudes. After the war, he was assigned to fly a P-51 with the 40th Squadron - 35th Fighter Group for a year as part of the occupation forces in Japan.
15-20 years ago I spoke to a volunteer at the Evergreen Museum in McMinneville Oregon. He was telling me about the time his B-24 got hit by flak. Some of the hot shrapnel went down his collar. Then he reached in his pocket and showed me a piece of the flak that had hit him. That's living history!
Know a living veteran of the air war? Please fill this form out! forms.gle/E34NmCJcYhERiq4v9 Also, please consider supporting TJ3 History on Patreon here so we can continue to make these: Patreon.com/TJ3History If you want to watch the other videos from Ed's story, you can find them here! Episode 2: ua-cam.com/video/WuW5BfHr8I4/v-deo.html Episode 3: ua-cam.com/video/hB07c0fmh_U/v-deo.html
Your doing a good thing allowing these heros to tell there story's. I just recently lost my grandfather at age 93. They are truly giant men. When life gets hard all I need to do is watch these videos or ones like them. And it becomes apparent that we are stronger than we think. We owe it to these men to make the best of the world they fought and died to protect.
That experience of that spin Probably moved this pilot up on the skill level quite a bit. I'm sure he did a few things wrong before he became focused and took control. Also the confidence of knowing that even in a spin he had control And could recover.
My father was in the artillery in the Philippine Army during W.W. 2. He survived the Bataan Death March. He turns 100 this year & lives in the Philippines. My younger son is a pilot in the U.S. Army. I used to have a neighbor that was in the U.S. Army and fought the Japanese during W.W. 2 in the Philippines.
old war bird is sharp as a tack still! and as a 59 yr old i got to meet a lot of our greatest generation fighters including family so i have heard stories by my age, but can u imagine someone from like 1066 or 321 ad or 75 bc reliving battles?
Wish my father was still alive. He was a P38. pilot in Foggia Italy. Lots of good stories over time. My first love is flying and his history in WW2 was my desert. Among many of those events, a favorite story was when his wingman was shot down over Germany territory. He landed safely in a field. Dad witnessed the entire event. He saw the pilot escape the crash. Although, at his higher vantage point he saw German troops heading towards the crash site. Dad and his other wingman strafed the soldiers. Dad decided to land his P38 and rescue the downed pilot. While the wingman continued to circle and fire on the enemy dad safely lands. The pilot jumped in on dad's lap. They had to keep the canopy open for the needed headroom. Dad had the rudders and the other pilot had the stick and throttle. They successfully took off and landed back at home base. Now, I know how pilots are when telling these stories. But in 1995 on at a 50th anniversary celebration in Texas dad met up with the rescued pilot, Warren ( whom. I am named after). Warren re-told the story exactly how did had told it for many years, and also to his surviving squadron and family.
I notice that He flew from Steeple Morden - there is a memorial to the 355 ffighter Group at the gate to the Airfield on the Road between Steeple Morden & Bassingbourne Airfield.
Now just keep letting them come. If you have the opportunity, it could be fun with one similar one to Kaj Birkested wing commander of the Norwegian fighter wing RAF WW 2. King Håkon 7 stated that "The Danes could keep Tordenskjold (Danish - Norwegian naval hero Great Nordic War 1700 and 1709-20) if Norway could keep Birkested"
And was quite an aviator. I must say he had a great plain. One of the best there was P 51D mustang. The earlier mustang sure is showing or P 51B. The P 51D had a slide back canopy the P 51 beer was what they call a Razorback. Razorback P 47 thunderbolt oh salt no P 47D also had a sliding canopy. It was a bubble canopy on the mustang and on the thunderbolt they said it was better to have one big solid cabin. The view was incredible. They even put a mirror on top of the canopy so the pilot could see what was behind him. I love this video it’s super cool.👍🏼😁💖❤️😎
All the veterans I knew growing up, from both World Wars are long dead. Deep down, it bothers me that I can no longer go to a living source to ask a pertinent question.
When I was going to school there were numerous First War veterans around in their 80s, and the WW2 guys were still in their 50s .. Even in 2013 there was a fair few still alive who are not today. You really can't turn any chance to preserve history down as it may not present itself again.
I’m pretty sure I built a 1/48 scale model of that plane at least once, maybe even twice. Olive drab with white stripes and white nose. Sharp looking plane.
So few WWII vets yet live. If you know one, I'm sure he would be happy to talk your ear off about all of his experiences if only you are willing to sit and listen. If you have this opportunity, don't let it pass.
Several years ago I talked to an old WW2 fighter pilot. He told me about what he went getting to the P51Mustang. He said the very first Mustangs, coming out of a staffing dive peeled of the wings and killed the pilot. He said they grounded all P51Mustang until they fixed the problem
0:06:41 American says "Bombers no matter how heavily fortified could not operate without a fighter escort"! Brit here says three names, and the names are:- "Bristol Beaufort", "Bristol Beaufighter" and "De-Havilland Mosquito", yeah I know the Bristol Beaufighter was a fighter derivative and therefore seen as a fighter but it was also used as a bomber too along with its sister the Bristol Beaufort.
To be fair, the Americans bombed during daylight to achieve better accuracy, but this made them more vulnerable to fighters, which meant they needed fighter escorts. The British bombed at night, which reduced accuracy but it enhanced survivability because enemy fighters couldn't shoot them down in the dark.
being a retired US Navy veteran, I have been able to meet other retired veterans. My wife works at Asbury Solomon's, and she introduced me to the oldest living West Point grad and P-51 pilot who flew during WWII. He's Col. Kermit R. Dyke and passed away in May 2019. It's awe-inspiring and humbling at the same me meeting such men and women who helped change the direction and out come of WWII. Our WWII vets are almost gone, thanks for keeping their experiences alive, may we never forget what they did for all of us.
Was HE the Kermit of Kermit Cams? 👍🙏🇺🇸
Thank for your service sir.
The memory of their sacrifice and heroism sustained our country. It's up to successive generations to keep it. The need for sacrifice and heroism surely will come again. However, there are reasons to doubt the current leadership's ability to meet such a challenge.
Standing on the shoulders of giants good greatest generation without whom we would probably be speaking German or Japanese I salute you sir
Amen to that I had the privilege of knowing and being a friend of a P-51 mustang pilot that flew off of Iwo Jima with the bombers in world war II actually log of flight with him in my log book he told me about his experience with the wind compression he told me that was the scariest thing he ever had done to him rest in peace mr. Willie you have not been forgotten
Seeing a grandfather like figure touting the terms "torque", "compressibility", "trim tabs" and describing things we learned from sims only, really give me a chilling realization that they're the real deal and we're just kids trying to follow their footsteps and shadows.
Once a pilot, always a pilot.
He was 19 to 21 years of age and went to war, and successfully learned to survive and win
Young men have absolutely started wars in order to show their daddies that they are big boys now & aint gonna cry when getting butt bumped by the entirety of winning army. Yep war rape was common & men were often targeted worse than what happens to the woman especially since they usually hope that the women are impregnated
Great, great grandfather. Turning 99 this March.
Well said.
Fantastic job on Ed Mcneff story TJ3. Can’t wait for part 2.
Amen
I could listen to Ed McNeff all day and then some!! Integral part of the greatest generation! I have no idea where these super brave men and women found the strength and fortitude to go to war and fight tyranny but my gratitude to them has no bounds!! Jim C.
Nuff said!!!
These stories need to be told. I met a ww2 vet many years ago who recanted his experience of being a charter member of the 82nd airborne div.
Yeah they sure do need to be recorded but they need to be recorded by educated historians with actual professional credibility who will do these interviews without any bias and has the integrity to verify as much as possible & anything that is just unverifiable needs to be declared as unverified.
Saw one of these the other day. A 90% of it all was an advertisement for getting a trip in an old fighter/bomber. The rest was the old timer just telling stories that are so clearly beyond the expected & perfectly acceptable levels of exaggeration.... And then this very same narrator in this video kept using the term "bad guys" to refer to opposition forces. shits dumb.
If he “recanted” his experience it means he retracted what he has said. “Recounted” is the term you were searching for. I will say this, I am really sad that so many stories went to the graves of these brave men. I said as such in a comment section of another video and someone said “Who cares”? I said, well I cannot cure stupid so good on you, pal.
@@your_royal_highness...there's no hope for SOME people- even GOD has His limits- that's why He created HELL!!!
Ed is a national treasure. Thank you for preserving history and reminding us that there was a time when men strapped themselves to flying machine guns and threw themselves into hell.
**for the exclusive benefit of daemon banksters.
Yes true legends who saved the world from Natzism . Honour & Respect . Lest we forget .
Well said I was honored to have a friend that was a 50/50 1 mustang pilot that flew out of Iwo Jima actually got to ride with him in his plane and mine both long all of that in my pilot logbook that's more important that my solo first he passed away at 96 and was still flying and restoring Piper tri-pacer took him all expenses paid to a trip to Sun and fun in Florida I truly miss my you will never be forgotten wilio Foreman rest in peace my friend
I wonder how most of them got into the cockpit with them big balls they were sporting God love them all in their contribution to freedom you will never be forgotten ever
Thank you TJ, for all your time and effort saving the stories of the true heros before they are lost forever. Great story as always, looking forward to part 2.
My grandfather, Richard Irwin Kuehl, made the same journey this man did. P47's at Duxford and graduated to P51's. He was an ace, he also was shot down and captured by the Germans for a brief time. The germans executed all the American airmen at this particular camp---except my grandfather. His last name, KUEHL is the name of the town mentioned in this vid when he was diving on the ME 109 and encountered compressibility over, Kuehl, Germany. My grandfather lived to 99 years old and passed in 2020---with his family at his side and I was holding his hand.
We will never know a greater generation. I miss my grandpa more than words can express. He NEVER would have allowed America to degrade like we are. He'd have rallied the boys and stopped the commies in DC.
Love you, Grandpa. See you after we fix this.....
Respect 👍👍👍💞💞💞
Thank you for sharing your story.
Thanks for sharing, I agree with you about the sad state of our country. You had a remarkable grandfather I'm sure you'll meet again..
I love the way you think And we share the same values and patriotism of and for this once great nation God help us all
America is still the Nation to beat in the world! Else why do so many travel at great peril to get here while many other nations try their best to bring USA down!😡
Keep fighting America, never give up!🤗🤗
DJ
Great video fella, I love how you're preserving the man, the story for all eternity! 😁😁👍 🏅🎖️
Thank you 👍
The Luftwaffe had been in combat since the Spanish Civil War in 1937. When the US got into the air war in Europe, it was a steep learning curve.
Love this video, Ed was very good at recalling his experience as a fighter pilot. That snap roll the German pilot pulled when pursued by was a difficult & clever move, showing how skilled the Luftwaffe pilots were at this stage of the war. Sadly for the Luftwaffe when these pilots were lost the new, hastily trained replacement pilots were not very good & often were easily shot down by the more experienced Allied pilots. Adding to the problem was that the Me 109 could only be flown well by an experienced pilot. However if an Allied pilot encountered one of the surviving veteran Luftwaffe pilots it could be a deadly surprise.
So proud of you Sir! 💯🇺🇸🙏🇬🇧
Interviews with these veterans like Ed are priceless. There aren’t too many left to interview, unfortunately. Another great piece.
So much of this history is passing away every day. Thank you.
Yes, and in some cities they don't even have veteran day parades anymore . 😢
Awesome! Just awesome! Good on you for interviewing this vet. If we don't do it, we lose out on what is an important moment in history! Much love from Canada!
Well done, TJ! On March 16, 1944 the 8. USAAF attacked aircraft factories in Augsburg, Ulm and Friedrichshafen. 740 heavy bombers and 868 fighters came into bad weather and so some of the bombers attacked "targets of opportunity". Because of bad weather, heavy clouds and snowfall the I. and II./JG 1 (Fw 190 A-7) didn't have contact to the US armada. But a few Bf 109 G-6 of III./JG 1 had dogfights with Mustangs over the area of Ulm. No air victories were confirmed by the German pilots. Lt Hans Halbey reported, that they were low on fuel, so they had to return to their base. So it could be, that Ed McNeff escaped, because the unknown but experienced German pilot of III./JG 1 (probably) didn't have enough fuel to finish the lucky Mustang pilot. Can't wait for part 2 of Ed's story :)
Wow thanks for the insight :)
Amazing video as always, had tons of fun filming this! o7 TJ!
A friend just told me about this video. I've been researching a fighter pilot by the name of Leonard B. Fuller of the 355th Fighter Group. 357th fighter squadron. I just looked at my records. I have goosebumps. This man flew with Leonard. He was in the same squadron. He flew on the same missions. I have the records. I see his name. I would love to contact him. Please tell me this heroic man is still with us.
Hey Donna, email me! TJ3Business@gmail.com - part two comes out tomorrow :) he is still with us.
You may want to check out the book "Thunderbolt"---there are a lot of other pilots depicted in that book, I found my grandfather in there and I think you might find your friend there too
TJ I felt like I was in the cockpit of the P-51. It was an amazing, emotional and very well done video. Congratulations one more time. I look forward to the next ones.
Thanks.
This channel is soooo underrated, Tj you do a marvelous job and have quickly become my go to channel for amazing air warfare history. Keep up the great work.
Thank you!
@@TJ3 Ty as well
@@dirt_ripper8734 I agree and just subscribed.
18:25
Oh how the turn tables
Just giving you a hard time, outstanding video as always and thank you for giving this grizzled pilot a chance to record his story.
I have two, one of which was a relative.
About 10 years ago, I was at a Veterans Day ceremony at the university I was attending at the time. Well, calling it a ceremony is a bit generous - it was just an outdoor speech with a flyover by the local CAF timed to the speech's closing. Anyway, I ended up speaking with the oldest veteran who was there. He was a Navy veteran, but he was not wearing a baseball cap that showed his ship, which was a little surprising. We talked a little bit, and I saw he was wearing pilot's wings. I pointed it out, and he said originally fought in the Pacific as an F4F Wildcat pilot. I asked him if he had flown at Midway or Guadalcanal, and apparently, those specifics caught him a bit off-guard. He quickly recomposed himself and said that his time started just as Guadalcanal was wrapping up. I then asked if he transitioned to the F6F Hellcat later on. My question surprised him a bit, but he answered with a slight smile that he did indeed.
The highlight came when I then asked which carrier he served on. He answered, "CV-10," to which I immediately said, "The Yorktown? And the Essex-class one at that, huh? Then again, the previous Yorktown was lost at Midway, and you said you came in after then, so that makes sense." The look on his face said that he did not expect someone as young as me (I was in my mid-20s then) to know about the Yorktown or as much as I did about the timeline of the Pacific theater.
He asked me why I knew what I did and what had to have sparked the passion needed to know those details, I told him about my great uncle (paternal grandfather's brother) who fought in the Pacific as well, but he was in the Army and was a part of MacArthur's escort back to the Philippines. My great uncle had said that he had shot at Japanese soldiers, but he never hit, let alone killed any, at least not as far as he or his unit knew.
My great uncle's unit managed to get through their tours without suffering any serious injuries or casualties - a couple of Purple Hearts but no actual losses. They stayed silent about their seemingly supernatural luck/protection out of fear of possibly ending it if they spoke of it to anyone while they were still serving. They finished with no awards beyond the aforementioned Purple Hearts, but as far as they were concerned, getting through more-or-less unscathed was enough of an award for them. The only things from the war he brought back home with him were the M1 Garand and M1911 that were issued to him (their provenance is verified and certified), and before he passed away, he gave those to my older brother, who has been properly caring for them since.
I regret not getting that Navy veteran's name. He has likely already passed away, and I hope he went peacefully.
Other side of the war, my Dad was a member of the Navy's new fighting construction battalion, the Seabees. They turned atolls into emergency landing strips in the South Pacific. Saved lots of men and areoplanes.
This is a great story and I am very much looking forward to seeing part 2. Subscribed.
Excellent presentation! I greatly look forward to part II. My dad was a P-51 Mustang pilot in the Pacific theater.
My dad missed deployment by a month due to VJDay
Another great story, TJ. Great to hear it from the WWII Vet. Thanks to whoever called this in.
My father finished advance flying school (the schools were ground, primary, intermediate and advanced, if I remember correctly) in 1943. The whole class signed up for a P-47 group forming up in Maine. The Air Force needed about half the class and took them alphabetically, starting with A. I noticed that in Chuck Yeager's book, his buddies had surnames toward the end of the alphabet.
The P51 Mustang is one of my favorite aircraft pieces of all time. Beautiful piece of machinery. 🇺🇸
My dad as well, his favorite plane to have ever worked on, even after he started working on jet fighters 😊
Great story about Ed and looking forward to part 2 .
In August of 1944, Robin Olds faced a similar predicament, where he and his wingman attacked a formation of 60 109s. During the fight, he saw a P51 and dived down to save him, only for compressability to kick in. He managed to pull out of the dive, just feet above a wheat field, but in the process, a glass window in his canopy frame broke off, startling him. Please do a video on this! And Operation Bolo!
ua-cam.com/video/KWxunJmZp_0/v-deo.html
Olds was incredible
I love how you're preserving history. What great stories from a great pilot, Ed McNeff is a treasure! Keep making excellent videos, I'll see you on War Thunder, thanks!
This is a highly entertaining yet informative video (as usual) TJ!
These kind of stories are priceless, keep doing them!!
God Bless You Ed and Thank You for your Service.
This is more than story telling; this is archival work that is Very Important.
That None Would Forget The Struggle Of War, and The People Who Fought Them
You have a new subscriber.
I love all these YT channels that highlight WW2 veterans.
My dad flew P-51's and P-47's in combat in the ETO. 354th FG (Pioneer Mustangs, first Group to fly Mustangs in the ETO. Also had the highest aerial kill score), 355th FS (Pugnacious Pups)
Dad got a "probable" on an Me 410, and heavily damaged an Me 262. He never claimed any kills, he told me he was there to do a job, not rack up a kill score
And came back alive.
This is a great story, thank you for taking the time to put it out there, Looking forward to the second half, Ed McNef, is a great pilot, thank you sir, for your service and duty to country. Outstanding American. Keep up the great work, and find the Vets and l them tell their stories, so we may never forget. Freedom is not free.
You should do a story on a P-51 pilot named George Preddy. He was the highest scoring ace in a Mustang in WWII and was killed by friendly AA fire.
On Christmas Day 1944. US Quad-50 batteries in the Ardennes had been ordered to hold their fire as "friendlies" were operating in the area. Not all them got the message, or just had itchy trigger fingers. 4th FG ace Donald Emerson suffered the same fate on the same day, only by British AA.
Dude I been following you since tj3 gaming. But wat you are doing with tj3 history is truly remarkable and so very important. Thank you.
These vídeos that you make for us with rich details, true stories and passion makes us feel these emotions for real. We fall in love right off the bat. I'm your vídeos buff.
TJ thanks once again.
My Gramps flew out of Gander protecting the convoys . He and crew ( Wing Commander John Young) sunk U-520 a type IX. Its a wonderful story with a terrible ending.
Wow, time to try that snap maneuver in war thunder, thanks TJ and great video, you always make the best videos
Good script, excellent graphics.
I even learnt stuff. Keep it up, TJ
Thanks, will do!
The P-47 shown as Ma Fran 3rd was Norm Olson's OS-P. He was only 355th FG ace to score 6 VCs in the P-47. All other 19 aces were flying the P-51. Olson was killed by flak after strafing Gifhorn airfield with McNeff on his wing on April 8, 1944. The mission of March 16th resulted in the 355th FG to destroy 14-2-3 for loss of 2 (both to JG 26) in area surrounding Munich/Augsburg. The one mission in the P-51 one week after converting from P-47, resulted in scoring 1/2 of P-47 victory credits for the six months prior.
General McNeff was also engaged in several of the 355th bigger air battles, on April 24, July 7,August 16th and November 26th 1944 - combined 70 LW fighters destroyed for seven 355th FG losses (4 to flak).
I absolutely love this content, been a aviation nerd my whole life, especially towards air combat during all of the major conflicts. Do you plan on talking about Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm in the future?
awesome vid as usual and God bless Ed McNeff RIP
Wonderful video, great graphics, thank you!
Some fun facts, the original P51 Mustang was armed with 4x 20mm cannons, about 500 were built
The A51 Apache was a dive bomber version of the P51, hundreds of those were also built.
Didn't catch much glory as it mostly played in the Mediterranean and Sicily I believe
My grandfather flew the P-51D against the Japanese, and loved that plane until he died in the 70s.
---
Re: German pilots-- One reason they became so good (and they were *very* good) was because, unfortunately for them, they didn't "get sent home" after a set number of missions. Because of the nature of their homeland "becoming the battlefield," they simply had to keep flying until they died...
Looking forward to pt. 2 of this story
This choice the German's made, "brutally" helped the allies out! "Never interrupt your enemy when they are being stupid."
Enjoyable interview!!!
Excellently done TJ!!..Like you I am also fascinated by WW2 aviation. And love seeing and hearing these stories of the men and women of the greatest Generation.
MAY WE NEVER FORGET
I have great respect for all these air warriors of WW2.
your video´s are so exiting and fascinating! thx for preserving history!
You're doing great work, TJ..!
Hey I just visited Sentimental Journey and Maid in the Shade ☺️☺️☺️ thanks for the video Ed and TJ. Can’t wait for part 2
The p51. Designed by North American for a RAF requirement. Engine replaced with a Rolls Royce Merlin and it became one of the best.
That Merlin... Hot damn.
I've heard stories about p47 pilots having to turn back to England because of lack of range even though they saw the Luftwaffe in the distance waiting to pounce the bombers. I can't imagine the anguish that must have felt like.
The really sad part is that if drop tanks weren't denied them they could have escorted into Germany.....
@@kenneth9874 Absolutely. The P-47 was totally capable of escorting the Bombers with drop tanks. It's just sickening to think of how many airmen were lost because of that bureocratic nonsense.
Superb video documentary. Looking forward to part 2.
Great story from a great American..im looking forward for more..and much thanks to our veterans..god bless
The P-51 is one of the planes of all time
One of the best planes
My dad retired as a Chief Master Sargent from the Air Force in 1971, but the most favorite plane he ever worked on was the P-51, even after working on various fighter jets after, but his P-51 was his, it belongs to the Captain in the sky, but it was his plane on the ground 😊
Of course all his planes were his on the ground 😂
My Dad was a WWII Army Air Corps pilot and spent the whole war as a flight and gunnery instructor. Checked out in almost all the fighters in service. He kept requesting a combat assignment but was always told he was more needed as an instructor. In 1945, he became a Pinball Pilot in P-63s and much later told me that fighter could outperform any other he ever flew himself or went up against except at high altitudes. After the war, he was assigned to fly a P-51 with the 40th Squadron - 35th Fighter Group for a year as part of the occupation forces in Japan.
15-20 years ago I spoke to a volunteer at the Evergreen Museum in McMinneville Oregon. He was telling me about the time his B-24 got hit by flak. Some of the hot shrapnel went down his collar. Then he reached in his pocket and showed me a piece of the flak that had hit him. That's living history!
Great Graphic’s “TJ3” Thank you McNeff for your service, courage and sacrifice for freedom 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Know a living veteran of the air war? Please fill this form out! forms.gle/E34NmCJcYhERiq4v9
Also, please consider supporting TJ3 History on Patreon here so we can continue to make these: Patreon.com/TJ3History
If you want to watch the other videos from Ed's story, you can find them here!
Episode 2: ua-cam.com/video/WuW5BfHr8I4/v-deo.html
Episode 3: ua-cam.com/video/hB07c0fmh_U/v-deo.html
Thank you for preserving the story. Brings tear to my eyes.
Your doing a good thing allowing these heros to tell there story's. I just recently lost my grandfather at age 93. They are truly giant men. When life gets hard all I need to do is watch these videos or ones like them. And it becomes apparent that we are stronger than we think. We owe it to these men to make the best of the world they fought and died to protect.
Nicely done video
l am in my 80's and old fighter pilot.....This is an excellent video....Hello Ed.......
Shoe🇺🇸
@@steveshoemaker6347 Take care, and respect to you!
That experience of that spin Probably moved this pilot up on the skill level quite a bit. I'm sure he did a few things wrong before he became focused and took control. Also the confidence of knowing that even in a spin he had control And could recover.
Another History topic should be the F-105 Pilot Leo Thorsness and his MOH mission.
My father was in the artillery in the Philippine Army during W.W. 2. He survived the Bataan Death March. He turns 100 this year & lives in the Philippines. My younger son is a pilot in the U.S. Army. I used to have a neighbor that was in the U.S. Army and fought the Japanese during W.W. 2 in the Philippines.
If your father ever comes to the US, please email me. Tj3business@gmail.com
I love when videos about historical stories show footage of war thunder to show planes
Well done young man. Of course I'm making several assumptions here but that's Showbiz baby.
I BELIEVE THAT IS GETTING MIXED UP IN MIND FOR THEM, STOP STOP STOP
old war bird is sharp as a tack still! and as a 59 yr old i got to meet a lot of our greatest generation fighters including family so i have heard stories by my age, but can u imagine someone from like 1066 or 321 ad or 75 bc reliving battles?
Glad he lived to see his sweetheart 🙏🇺🇸🦅
Well done Ed. You have been there done that and thanks for it.
Thank you for your service sir.
Wish my father was still alive. He was a P38. pilot in Foggia Italy. Lots of good stories over time. My first love is flying and his history in WW2 was my desert. Among many of those events, a favorite story was when his wingman was shot down over Germany territory. He landed safely in a field. Dad witnessed the entire event. He saw the pilot escape the crash. Although, at his higher vantage point he saw German troops heading towards the crash site. Dad and his other wingman strafed the soldiers. Dad decided to land his P38 and rescue the downed pilot. While the wingman continued to circle and fire on the enemy dad safely lands. The pilot jumped in on dad's lap. They had to keep the canopy open for the needed headroom. Dad had the rudders and the other pilot had the stick and throttle. They successfully took off and landed back at home base. Now, I know how pilots are when telling these stories. But in 1995 on at a 50th anniversary celebration in Texas dad met up with the rescued pilot, Warren ( whom. I am named after). Warren re-told the story exactly how did had told it for many years, and also to his surviving squadron and family.
Wish you guys could've interviewed my grandfather before he passed. He flew P-38s in the pacific and had some crazy stories.
Watched from Old Harbour Jamaica.
I notice that He flew from Steeple Morden - there is a memorial to the 355 ffighter Group at the gate to the Airfield on the Road between Steeple Morden & Bassingbourne Airfield.
Good eye!
Great Story can't wait for part 2
Thanks for sharing your video. I enjoyed watching. Take care and God Bless.
Now just keep letting them come. If you have the opportunity, it could be fun with one similar one to Kaj Birkested wing commander of the Norwegian fighter wing RAF WW 2. King Håkon 7 stated that "The Danes could keep Tordenskjold (Danish - Norwegian naval hero Great Nordic War 1700 and 1709-20) if Norway could keep Birkested"
And was quite an aviator. I must say he had a great plain. One of the best there was P 51D mustang. The earlier mustang sure is showing or P 51B. The P 51D had a slide back canopy the P 51 beer was what they call a Razorback. Razorback P 47 thunderbolt oh salt no P 47D also had a sliding canopy. It was a bubble canopy on the mustang and on the thunderbolt they said it was better to have one big solid cabin. The view was incredible. They even put a mirror on top of the canopy so the pilot could see what was behind him. I love this video it’s super cool.👍🏼😁💖❤️😎
All the veterans I knew growing up, from both World Wars are long dead. Deep down, it bothers me that I can no longer go to a living source to ask a pertinent question.
When I was going to school there were numerous First War veterans around in their 80s, and the WW2 guys were still in their 50s .. Even in 2013 there was a fair few still alive who are not today. You really can't turn any chance to preserve history down as it may not present itself again.
That is why TJ Rocks. We must keep these feats alive for our grandchildren to be motivated by.
Very sorry to see that Gen. McNeff passed away recently. Condolences to his family.
Excellent video
I’m pretty sure I built a 1/48 scale model of that plane at least once, maybe even twice. Olive drab with white stripes and white nose. Sharp looking plane.
This is great to bed. Please hurry with Part 2‼️
So few WWII vets yet live. If you know one, I'm sure he would be happy to talk your ear off about all of his experiences if only you are willing to sit and listen. If you have this opportunity, don't let it pass.
Hi! What is the name of the game that you used to make this great video?
Amazing video!
Thanks!
It's a wonder Ed was able to pull out.
How did that German know Mavericks Move? I'll Hit The Brakes, He Will Fly Right By. TOPGUN
Thanks for sharing
What a great video! Thanks!
not having part two ready to ticks me off!
Use the Playlist on my home page! They are all there (Parts 1-4)
Several years ago I talked to an old WW2 fighter pilot. He told me about what he went getting to the P51Mustang. He said the very first Mustangs, coming out of a staffing dive peeled of the wings and killed the pilot. He said they grounded all P51Mustang until they fixed the problem
I'm sure others have commented, the P47 shown, is a P47C, not a P47D; the D has a clear, one-piece bubble canopy.
These are GREAT!
0:06:41 American says "Bombers no matter how heavily fortified could not operate without a fighter escort"! Brit here says three names, and the names are:- "Bristol Beaufort", "Bristol Beaufighter" and "De-Havilland Mosquito", yeah I know the Bristol Beaufighter was a fighter derivative and therefore seen as a fighter but it was also used as a bomber too along with its sister the Bristol Beaufort.
To be fair, the Americans bombed during daylight to achieve better accuracy, but this made them more vulnerable to fighters, which meant they needed fighter escorts. The British bombed at night, which reduced accuracy but it enhanced survivability because enemy fighters couldn't shoot them down in the dark.