The P-51 Mustang Pilot that Killed a German in his Parachute - Brutal True Story of Richard Peterson

This is the true story of World War II ace Richard Peterson who killed a German pilot in his parachute in one of the most brutal dogfighting stories of World War II. This historical recreation 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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[fredlance]

I have a story I feel I have to share . My dad was a WW2 vet. he was in the 1st armored Division he was in North Africa and Italy . His tank was hit when he was in Italy and it caught fire A lieutenant by the name of Green bailed out the top and gave no help to his crew, my dad did his best to help the crew get out the trap door in the bottom of the tank I think the co driver died in the tank and not sure who all survived . My dad came out the drivers hatch and when he was coming out he he shot some Germans off the roof of a farm house, during the exchange of fire my father was shot and and ran into some olive vineyards and was later picked up by some of the Germans that he was just shooting at . Some of the young Germans wanted to kill my dad because he had killed some of their friends, the older sergeant was in charge and would not let that happen instead he patched him up and gave him some food and wine, after some time he sent the young guys off ans spoke in English to my dad . He asked my dad where are you from, my dad said PA. the sergeant said what part of PA. are you from my dad said Scranton the sergeant said really, what part of Scranton my dad said North Scranton the sergeant then started to name a few local bars and asked my dad if he had ever drank in them my dad said yes I have how the hell do you know them? The sergeant said I am from Bethlehem PA and worked in the steel mills and I was visiting family when the war broke out and was unable to leave and go back to the USA. and was forced to fight . He stayed with my dad and took care of him as long as he could . I had to share this and say even in war some good people show up and do good thing. I hope I was not to long winded . And even during war it is a small and good world.

[rwnagel]

My dad had a friend who flew in WW2. He said that at the end of the war the Germans had their jet plane. There was no hope for Germany, but they ordered the jets to attack the American’s anyway. His friend related that a jet had him dead to rights, but didn’t fire. He came along side, waved and flew off. He was a warrior not a killer.

[juddpeterson]

Interesting video that hits close to home. Richard "Bud" Peterson was my father. I call this story of his the "Angel of Death Story". To be honest, it's not one of his or my favorites, but it's true. He felt a responsibility as a bomber escort to protect these bomber crews, and as he recounts, when he saw that Me109 pilot individually killing those men in their chutes, it angered him to that action. You could see the anger every time he told that story. Actually, you depict the parachute attacks on the chutes, but in reality, the German was shooting the men themselves as they hung in their chutes. Terrified and helpless against an inevitable doom, waiting as he picked off their friends one by one. One can only imagine the fear of the anticipation of that. In considering the ethics of the story, imagine the relief of those in chutes who were saved and survived. This story was excerpted from a documentary film the producer made of several top aces of the 357th FG. There were several other more memorable stories from Bud that draw a more accurate, full picture of his warm, outgoing personality. For the most part, he was a fun-loving, gregarious, happy-go-lucky fellow with countless friends. He was one of four top aces of the 357th, and the highest scoring ace of the 364th Fighter Squadron. The Chicago Tribune once wrote an article about him entitled "Shepherd of the Skies" explaining how he repeatedly returned to the target area to help damaged bombers return by protecting them from further attack. His favorite story was about bringing his fighter squadron back to Leiston in a fog and landing each and every one of them without any ILS system. He had some extraordinary dogfighting stories too that he often shared with friends at lunch. In reality, my mother was his bride-to-be at home, not yet his wife, when she wrote those letters ending in "Hurry Home Honey". They married in April 1945, just after Bud returned from his second tour of duty. Lastly, there were very few older, veteran fighter pilots in his fighter group. they were all very young...most were just 20 to 23 years old. Bud was 21 when he got his first P-51 in Leiston. They simply learned from themselves as they recounted their experiences after the missions. As they became more experienced and even better fighter pilots, they realized that new, rookie, infill pilots needed to be taught some basics about being a successful fighter pilot after too many of them were shot up in their first few missions when they had no idea what they were doing. Bud developed "Clobber College" calling himself the Dean of this school where the veteran fighter pilots and aces of the 357th would share advice and tips to the new pilots to keep them out of trouble. Take care, thanks for the memories.

[Xooberwan]

It's important to document events like this for historical perspective. Kudos to you for taking on the task of communicating such an unpleasant event in WWII history.

[robertbishop]

I recall a YouTube history lesson regarding this. It was found that one German luftwaffe commander threatened each of his pilots that he would personally shoot anyone who shot down a pilot in his parachute.

[martialmushi]

"I didn't want him to blow up. I wanted him to bail."

Straight savage

[alittleblackcircle]

“I didn’t want to blow him up. I wanted him to bail.” Was a cold ass line 🥶

[The_Mimewar]

“And that was the end of that”. A lot to unpack in that simple closing

[alexandermartincausey]

There was a story of a B-17 that had been so badly damaged it was assumed nobody could have survived inside. Indeed, there were several crew fatalities, but the plane was still being flown by it's badly injured pilot. A 109 came to finish it off, but seeing the state of the aircraft, the pilot elected to signal them to land. He refused. So the German saluted and flew away, leaving the bomber to successfully make it to England. After the war, the bomber pilot lived in Canada and couldn't escape the wondering thought of the man who saved his life. Ended up the German pilot survived the war too, and they met and became great friends. The German said "I had a strict commanding officer who once said 'If I hear of anyone shooting at a man in a parachute, I will shoot you myself'. After seeing the state of the bomber, I felt like the men inside were in a parachute and I couldn't shoot at them."

[pickle]

that german pilot must've been like "oh hell, i know what happens next." the second he bailed out of his plane.

[BenjaminARosso]

I Heard this story when I was young on a documentary on the war over Europe, I was about 14 years old. I'm glad to see the younger generations retelling this story so that it will be remembered.

[Allyourbase]

I never knew the phrase “ you’re about to meet your maker buddy” could sound so badass and casual at the same time

[MeTube]

My WW2 grandfather, long since passed lived his life with regret that he had to kill enemy soldiers. He was forever sad about it and used to say how sorry he was. Absolutely no glory in it, just lifelong regret.

[lemmdus]

German pilots would have shot their own for doing that. The Luftwaffe didn’t condone that AT ALL. Thus the story of the 109 helping the B17 to the coast of France

[bluesclue]

Excellent work. I really enjoyed that.

[AllenMacCannell]

Another big reason not to do this was because you'd be vulnerable to other enemy fighters who'd definitely give you karma when they made you bail

[moistmike]

Western pilots - German, Russian and Allied generally avoided killing defenseless adversaries in their parachutes. The exception in WW2 though were the Japanese. They ruthlessly slew bailed out pilots when they got the chance.

[henryc]

One of the absolute best war stories on YouTube 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[shaibalbose]

appreciated your excellent presentation ... thank you !!

[mysticdragonwolf]

My grandpa had a situation where he and a scout patrol were on a boat.

Everyone was near the engine to keep warm - my grandpa sat on the edge, as he had heard of possible mines and had told his fellows such

They hit a mine.

3/4 of the patrol were killed instantly, my grandpa nearly was drowned as he got hit with the severed body of his officer

He managed to drag himself and this officer (who was still alive) to shore

He was then attacked by a German patrol, killing the officer, forcing my grandpa to use his body as a sandbag as he returned fire

He got captured, a German flanking him and trying to disable him instead of killing him

When he came to he was bound, his wounds bandaged. The same German standing between him and other soldiers

In the exchange of fire, my grandpa had hit some of the German patrol - killing 1-2 while wounding a few others

This German, a sergeant or an officer, said roughly “Kill a captured PoW and I will personally kill you myself, we are not Nazis. He fought as we fight. His fight is done.”

Later that German patrol was ambushed and everyone got killed but this German who got wounded.

My grandpa did the same for him, protecting him and tending to his wounds — after the war they both became friends who visited each other

My grandpa said he was the brave and threw one hell of a punch