During the last 20 years, the remains of several Photo Recon pilots who flew for my Fathers 8th and 9th AAF outfits have been recovered and brought home.

One was found in his P-47 Thunderbolt in a river in Germany and when I showed my Dad the news report with the pilot's name he recalled he was killed in the last 10 days of the war on a "bull****" mission. My dad said he was always haunted by the fact that he had to send a 20 year old kid to his death because SHEAF/Eisenhower wanted to know exactly where the Russians were at the time.

Yes, he was shot down by our Allies, not our Enemies.

Another pilot from the 7th PG/13th Sqdn was recovered when the Dutch drained a poulder fto make farmland and found a crashed P-38/F-5 Lightning in the mud at the bottom. The Dutch Government paid all the costs of recovery, transportation to Arlington and even sent a Major of the Netherlands Air Force as am escort to the interrment.

Shows how some of out Allies treat those who made the ultimate scarifice.

The Photo recon planes flew with only Camera and no guns (to save weight), even the Armor plate behind the seat was removed to get a couple of more MPH. As my Dad said, "They flew alone, unarmed and unafraid".

During the invasion of the European continent, his pilots flew at altitudes of 1500 to 3000 feet to get photos of the conditions behind the front lines and the status of the bridges across the Rhine. The after action reports I have read read like the action reports my Step Father gave me of US Navy Support missions over Viet Nam bombing the bridges and roads. AAA fire was like being in a hailstorm, and the only reason some pilots made it back was the P-47 was a flying tank.