An obvious error in the article: "Overstreet was awarded hundreds of medals for his service in the 357th squadron..." (I don't think so.)
On behalf of myself and my fellow Freepers, "We thank you for your service and we salute you!"
What a man!
Under the E-Tower.
Now, THAT’s what I’m talking about.
Rest in peace, and our thanks to you.
Look at those eyes. Both photos. The man was a bullfighter.
I bet this WW II 92 yr old could beat the PJ’s off of Obama’s pajama boy wearing freak!....too bad he’s gone - but he’s with comrades and friends now and doesn’t have to watch the country he fought so hard for die in decades to come!
I think he and Yeager were in the air together back in the day. RIP.
RIP.
A seriously Hot Rock. Well done, sir.
ping
I’m not posting it because it may be copyrighted, but there is a great painting of the Eiffel Tower incident at the link.
USAAF ping
In my town they had a bridge that connected the upper part of town to the valley below. The bridge was 150 feet high and had a 40 wide road passing underneath.
One of our towns WW2 P 51 pilots got drunk and was bored so he flew his little Cessna through the gap where the road was and underneath the bridge.
Hurrah for our Ww2 guys
Unfortunately in today’s military if he did something like that he’d be grounded and sent for retraining and loss of rank.
Sure, nice story for the brass. Fighter pilots don't need a reason to do stunts like that, other than just animal spirits.
Wow...a very rare old bold pilot.
Sad to see him leave us.
The guy high speed low dreg.RIP Sir.What a rush that had to have been.That would be real hard to top in the rest of your life.
How did a guy with a pair the size he had to have manage to sit in a cramp fighter plane seat?
Charles E. Yeager
William 'O Bee' O'Brien
James McLane
Harvey Mace
Charles E. Weaver
I wish Bill Overstreet Jr. had signed it as well!
God Bless and God speed Bill.
One of those French Resistance fighters was the father of Bernard Marie. A French dignitary who has hosted D-Day events every year since 1984, Marie said he met Overstreet in 1994. He knew Overstreet was well-known for his flight underneath the Eiffel Tower but didn’t understand its true importance until he spoke with his father.
“My father began shouting at me — ‘I have to meet this man,’ ” Marie said. Members of the French Resistance had seen his flight and it inspired them, including Marie’s father, he said.
“This guy has done even more than what people are thinking,” Marie said. “He lifted the spirit of the French.”
Marie was born into Nazi-occupied France and remembers the Allied troops coming to his home to liberate his family, forever giving him an appreciation for American WWII veterans. It led to a friendship with Overstreet as soon as they met.
Marie said Overstreet “was a countryman and a wonderful man. He was very humble.”
Timesdisparch.com
What an incredible man and hero he was. The details of this story were really touching. Reading about men like this who inspired so many and fought for the entire worlds freedom from tyranny renews my pride and faith in our country. Things are looking rough these days, but we are built on a solid core.
Interment is in 10 minutes. His memorial service is this afternoon at 2:00 pm in Roanoke according to the funeral home obit. - http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/Oakeys1/memsol.cgi?user_id=1204221
You can sign and read the funeral home guestbook online (only 19 entries so far) - http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/Batesville/guestbook.aspx?n=william-overstreet&pid=168842356
It’s all yours, Freepers. Go for it.
Gotta run. Got a memorial service to attend at 2:00 pm. Will provide after action later today.