Dear Ken, Wonderful story and adventure for Capt Overstreet. Thanks for sharing. The painting of the 109 and the P51 under the Eiffel Tower is extraordinary and gripping. Warmest regards, Chuck Engles On Wed, Jun 1, 2016 at 4:30 PM, Ken Green via DeTomaso wrote:
I know this is old news that someone forwarded to me, but I bet this guy would have enjoyed driving a Pantera:
The fighter pilot who flew through the Eiffel Tower in 1944 has died.
In the spring of 1944 Bill Overstreet and his P-51C, the 'Berlin Express'were near Paris when the scene that is immortalized in theartwork by Len Krenzler of Action Art that leads this articletook place. Bill had followed a German Bf109 from thebombers he was escorting when most of the Germanfighters left. The two planes had been in a running dogfight. The German pilot flew over Paris hoping that the heavy German anti-aircraft artillery would solve his problem and eliminate Overstreet and the 'Berlin Express', though Bill managed to get some hits in at about 1500 feet. The German's engine was hit, and Bill stayed on his tailbraving the intense enemy flak. His desperation undoubtedlygrowing, the German pilot aimed his plane at the Eiffel Towerand in a surprising maneuver, flew beneath it. Undeterred, Bill followed right behind him, scoring severalmore hits in the process. The German plane crashed andBill escaped the heavy flak around Paris by flying low andfull throttle over the river until he had cleared the city'sheavy anti-aircraft batteries.WWII fighter pilot who flew THROUGH the Eiffel Tower to take down aGerman plane dies in Virginia aged 92. William Overstreet Jr., a former captain in the U.S. Air Corps, passed away on Sunday at a hospital inRoanoke, Virginia. He famously flew his plane beneath the Eiffel Tower in Nazi-occupiedParis in 1944, lifting the spirits of French troops on the ground. In 2009, he was presented France's Legion of Honor. Hero: World War II Aviator Bill Overstreet Jr., best known for flying beneath the Eiffel Tower in pursuit of a German plane, is pictured in his military days. Before the ceremony, Overstreet had previously said that, if he lived long enoughto receive the Legion of Honor, he would be accepting it in memory of his fallenbrothers. In particular, he wanted to pay tribute to a friend, Eddy Simpson, whodied fighting the Nazis on the ground so his comrades, including Overstreet,could escape. After the award was pinned to his lapel, Overstreet said:'If I said, "Thank you," it wouldn't be enough,' before adding:'What more than "thank you" do you need?' He was born in Clifton Forge, Virginia in 1921 and after Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Air Corps as a fighter pilot. By February 1942, he was a private and sent to California for flight training; there, his instructors prepared him for the unexpected mid-flight by cutting the engine as he landed. Aircraft: Overstreet is pictured by his P-51 'Berlin Express', the plane he flew beneath the Eiffel Tower. 'He was always humble. Whenever the press interviewed him, he said,"I didn't do anything. We were a team".'RIP Bill Overstreet. GOD BLESS AMERICA
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