Robert Rosenthal, hero of the 8th Air Force, dead at 89

[Boyo_Jim]

I posted this is the Celebrity Death Pool, but I feel this is a man whose passing merits its own thread.

If you’ve read much about the WWII European air war, or the Nuremburg trials, you’ve probably read about him at some point. He flew B17s from 1943 through the end of the war, being shot down twice, evading capture each time and returning to duty. He flew with the famous Bloody 100th, once bringing his plane back, shot to pieces with two of four engines feathered, the only plane of his group’s 13 ship box to survive a mission over Munich. He flew more than 50 missions, double the number required of air crew at the time. After the war he served as a prosecutor at Nuremburg.

If you care to read about some of his exploits, and more of the history of the Bloody 100th, I highly reccommend the war memoir “On a Wing and a Prayer” by Hary H Crosby, the Command Navigator of the 100th.

[Scuba_Ben]

I’ll have to check my family history; my grandfather (Z’'L) was a deputy chief prosecutor at Nurmberg. He probably knew Robert Rosenthal, maybe even worked with him on some cases.

[Sophistry_and_Illusion]

@Wiki

Out of 13 B-17s on a mission over Münster, Rosenthal’s was the only plane to return, missing two engines, the intercom and the oxygen system, and with a large ragged hole in the right wing.

In September of 1944, Rosenthal’s plane was shot down over Germany, in which he broke his arm and nose. He was rescued by the Free French and returned to duty as soon as he had healed.

On his second to last mission on February 3, 1945, Rosenthal led a mission to bomb Berlin. Although his bomber was in flames from a direct hit, he continued to the target to drop his payload; then stayed with the plane until after the rest of the crew had bailed out, just before it exploded at only 1,000 feet altitude. He was recovered by the Russians and again returned to duty.

:eek: :eek:

Jesus Christ, this guy must’ve had balls of steel. Any one of these three incidents would have put me in the psych ward; but he returned to duty each time.