Have The Political cartoonists Actually Awakened?

There are actually people who dare draw political cartoons against the man who walks on water? Hallelujah!

My apologies to the copyright holders, but hey, I'll remove any of these just as soon as you let me know. Just leave a comment below. But, you really have to be the copyright holder and not some Obama sycophant. If you are a member of the media, printed or otherwise, pick these up for your publication. A bit of the truth might help your rapidly dwindling subscription base. Of course, you really have to mean it.

I'm Karl, still, again, some more...

An Open Letter From Janet Contreras, a former Democrat from Arizona

I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life.

Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democrat Party represented my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a BandAid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some non-politicians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have canceled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when he will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution. [Ed: This sentence makes no sense. Someone please let me know what it means or how it originally read.]

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

---

Janet Contreras was a guest on Glenn Beck's radio show today. She said the letter took 2 hours to write. That was 2 hours very well spent, on June 16, 2009, I'd say.

I wish to thank Janet for writing this letter. I really hope government is listening. I think it's time we throw all the usurpers out, don't you? No really. I mean every last one of them when it's their turn. We need non-politicians who have values, ethics, morals and the other good things, to step up to the plate.

On second thought, I recall that in the beginning of our country, a man didn't run for office, he was nominated. There were no politicians. No one became a politician. There were farmers, teachers, masons, carpenters or merchants who served a few terms, then got back to making a living. It's against every constitution in the land for employees of the states to run for office. No teachers, policemen, firemen or court-employed lawyers, judges or janitors are eligible to run for political office. They have a built-in conflict of interest because they go to the capital and vote themselves pay-raises, fat retirement and medical benefits for the time they lose office. Professional politicians are evil, period. They are steeped in greed, corruption and vice, and they are worthless. Mark Twain said it best when he said, "Pro is to Progress as Con is to Congress", or maybe better yet, another quote, "Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason." With that said, where are the term limits? I demand them now for every office in the land.

I'm Karl

Fired Fox Reporters "Blow The Whistle"

What happens to Whistleblowers who don't agree with Monsanto?

Fox news killed a story about Monsanto's milk enhancing drug, RDST/RBGH, under pressure from Monsanto. Ten well-spent minutes watching this is very important. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL1pKlnhvg0

Monsanto has a history of cover-ups and deceptions. They are one company that produces GMO seeds that can't reproduce, thus requiring users to rely on them for seeds year after year. They have bought legislators who have and are passing legislation making the practice of saving seeds from one year's crop for planting the next year's crop illegal. In fact, farmers in India, who were required to buy Monsanto's products, fail miserably and commit suicide using a Monsanto product. This video is very good, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeboa4TR5Qo

Monsanto has blood on its hands.

D&C 89:4 says:

4 Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation— http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/89/4

I'm Karl

A Pastor's Wife's Letter

I can find no credit given anywhere I've looked, and on some sites, it explicitly states anon. So whoever wrote this, please comment below so proper credit may be given.

And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity, the people of the land called America, having lost their morals, their initiative, and their will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader a person known as "The One". He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning; but He hypnotized the people saying,

"I am sent to save you. My lack of experience, my questionable ethics, my narcissistic ego, and my association with evil doers are of no consequence. For I shall save you with Hope and Change. Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the land that he who preceded me is evil, that he has defiled the nation, and that all he has built must be destroyed." And the people rejoiced, for even though they knew not what "The One" would do, he had promised that it was good; and they believed.

And "The One" said "We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change everything about it!" And the people said, "Hallelujah! Change is good!" Then He said, "We are going to tax the rich fat-cats." And the people said "Sock it to them!"

"And redistribute their wealth." And the people said, "Show us the money!" And then He said, "Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody" And Joe the plumber asked, "Are you kidding me? You're going to steal my money and give it to deadbeats??" And "The One" ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe's personal records were hacked and publicized.

One lone reporter asked, "Isn't that Marxist policy?"

And she was banished from the kingdom!

Then a citizen asked, "With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with radical terrorists?" And "The One" said, "Simple. I shall sit with them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are; and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!" And the people said, "Hallelujah!! We are safe at last, and we can beat our weapons into free cars for the people!

Then "The One" said, "I shall give 95% of you lower taxes."

And one, lone voice said, "But 40% of us don't pay ANY taxes." So "The One" said, "Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!" And the people said, "Hallelujah!! Show us the money!"

Then "The One" said, "I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!" And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed.

And He said, "I shall mandate employer-funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every person unlimited healthcare and medicine and transportation to the clinics." And the people said, "Give me some of that!"

Then he said, "I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas." And the people said, "Where's my rebate check?"

Then "The One" said, "I shall bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!" And the people said, "Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don't care for that part about higher electric rates." So "The One" said, "Not to worry. If your rebate isn't enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!"

Then He said, "Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let's grant them amnesty, Social Security benefits, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing..." And the people said, "Hallelujah!!" And they made him King!

And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers.

Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like unto a rock dropped from a cliff. The banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to a crawl. And more of the people were without means of support.

Then "The One" said, "I am the "The One" - The Messiah - and I'm here to save you! We shall just print more money so everyone will have enough!" But our foreign trading partners said unto Him, "Wait a minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have to pay more..." And the people said, "Wait a minute. That's not fair!!" And the world said, "Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you shall play by OUR rules!"

And the people cried out, "Alas, alas!! What have we done?"

But yea verily, it was too late. The people set upon "The One" and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung. And the once mighty nation was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope. And the Change "The One" had given them was as like unto a poison Kool-Aid that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all they had built.

And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish, "Give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!" But it was too late, and their homeland was no more.

---

So, is this just talk, or are we watching it happen. My wise father once said to me, "When liberties are taken, or even freely given in ignorance, they can only be recovered through bloodshed."

We are ignorant and foolish if we don't believe that. Freedom is only maintained by the blood of patriots. History has repeated that lesson over and over. How did our once-great land begin? Bloodshed. It's about that time again.

I'm Karl

Dr. Anne Worthen Speaks The Truth

even when it's "inconvenient". Why don't more? Fear of reprisal, and fear of others.

Anne Wortham is Associate Professor of Sociology at Illinois State University and continuing Visiting Scholar at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. She is a member of the American Sociological Association and the American Philosophical Association. She has been a John M. Olin Foundation Faculty Fellow, and honored as a Distinguished Alumni of the Year by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.

She has published numerous articles on the implications of individual rights for civil rights policy, and is currently writing a book on theories of social and cultural marginality. Recently, she has published articles on the significance of multiculturalism and Afrocentricism in education, the politics of victimization and the social and political impact of political correctness.

No He Can't

by Anne Wortham

Fellow Americans,

Please know: I am black; I grew up in the segregated South. I did not vote for Barack Obama; I wrote in Ron Paul's name as my choice for president. Most importantly, I am not race conscious. I do not require a black president to know that I am a person of worth, and that life is worth living. I do not require a black president to love the ideal of America.

I cannot join you in your celebration. I feel no elation. There is no smile on my face. I am not jumping with joy. There are no tears of triumph in my eyes. For such emotions and behavior to come from me, I would have to deny all that I know about the requirements of human flourishing and survival - all that I know about the history of the United States of America , all that I know about American race relations, and all that I know about Barack Obama as a politician. I would have to deny the nature of the "change" that Obama asserts has come to America . Most importantly, I would have to abnegate my certain understanding that you have chosen to sprint down the road to serfdom that we have been on for over a century. I would have to pretend that individual liberty has no value for the success of a human life. I would have to evade your rejection of the slender reed of capitalism on which your success and mine depend. I would have to think it somehow rational that 94 percent of the 12 million blacks in this country voted for a man because he looks like them (that blacks are permitted to play the race card), and that they were joined by self-declared "progressive" whites who voted for him because he doesn't look like them. I would have to be wipe my mind clean of all that I know about the kind of people who have advised and taught Barack Obama and will fill posts in his administration - political intellectuals like my former colleagues at the Harvard University 's Kennedy School of Government.

I would have to believe that "fairness" is the equivalent of justice. I would have to believe that man who asks me to "go forward in a new spirit of service, in a new service of sacrifice" is speaking in my interest. I would have to accept the premise of a man that economic prosperity comes from the "bottom up," and who arrogantly believes that he can will it into existence by the use of government force. I would have to admire a man who thinks the standard of living of the masses can be improved by destroying the most productive and the generators of wealth.

Finally, Americans, I would have to erase from my consciousness the scene of 125,000 screaming, crying, cheering people in Grant Park, Chicago

irrationally chanting "Yes We Can!" Finally, I would have to wipe all memory of all the times I have heard politicians, pundits, journalists, editorialists, bloggers and intellectuals declare that capitalism is dead - and no one, including especially Alan Greenspan, objected to their
assumption that the particular version of the anti-capitalistic mentality that they want to replace with their own version of anti-capitalism is anything remotely equivalent to capitalism.

So you have made history, Americans. You and your children have elected a black man to the office of the president of the United States , the wounded giant of the world. The battle between John Wayne and Jane Fonda is over - and that Fonda won. Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern must be very happy men. Jimmie Carter, too. And the Kennedys have at last gotten their Kennedy look-a-like. The self-righteous welfare statists in the suburbs can feel warm moments of satisfaction for having elected a black person. So, toast yourselves: 60s countercultural radicals, 80s yuppies and 90s bourgeois bohemians. Toast yourselves, Black America. Shout your glee Harvard, Princeton , Yale, Duke, Stanford, and Berkeley. You have elected not an individual who is qualified to be president, but a black man who, like the pragmatist Franklin Roosevelt, promises to - Do Something! You now have someone who has picked up the baton of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. But you have also foolishly traded your freedom and mine - what little there is left - for the chance to feel good. There is nothing in me that can share your happy obliviousness.

(Read verification of this article at TruthOrFiction.com)

I believe there are a lot more people who know Obama for what he is, a post turtle. What's a post turtle? Here's the story that comes from:

An old rancher is talking about politics with a young man from the city. He compares a politician to a "post turtle". The young man doesn't understand and asks him what a post turtle is. The old man says, "When you're driving down a country road and you see a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle. You know he didn't get up there by himself. He doesn't belong there; he can't get anything done while he's up there; and you wonder who the blamed fool was who put him up there."

So, am I pro-Obama? I'm pro-Obama's getting off the post, and the sooner the better for all of us, even those who don't agree. They are drinking too much Koolaid...

So once again, I'm Karl

True Stories Need To Be Retold Often

This story is one of those that show that character matters.

It's about brave, honorable men, with dignity and respect for life. I hope you can appreciate what we've lost as you contemplate what was once common among men of honor.

Look carefully at the B-17 and note how shot up it is - one engine dead, tail, horizontal stabilizer and nose shot up... It was ready to fall out of the sky.

(This is a painting done by an artist from the description of both pilots many years later.)

Then realize that there is a German ME-109 fighter flying next to it and read on. I think you'll be surprised.

Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.

After flying the B-17 over an enemy airfield, a German pilot named Franz Steigler was ordered to intercept, then shoot down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, 'I had never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

In spite of his orders, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at the pilot, Charlie Brown. Brown was frantically struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.

BF-109 pilot Franz Steigler

B-17 pilot Charlie Brown

Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to, and slightly over, the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe.

When Franz landed he told the CO that the plane had been shot down and went into the sea. He never spoke of it again. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told everyone at their briefing, but were ordered never to speak of it.

More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown decided he needed to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew and express proper appreciation. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.

They met in the U.S.A. at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now - all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

From left to right: German Ace Franz Stigler, artist Ernie Boyett, and B-17 pilot Charlie Brown.

Now, for the 'Rest of the Story'

( found at http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/charlie-brown-franz-stigler-17109.html )

"WWII hero with a remarkable story
In 1943, a German pilot decided not to shoot down Charlie Brown's damaged plane. Brown died last month, but he lived to finally see his heroism recognized.
BY CHARLES RABIN
crabin@MiamiHerald.com

When World War II bomber pilot Charlie Brown is laid to rest Saturday, his burial will close a chapter on one of the most remarkable war stories in modern history.

It's a tale of two pilots -- one American, the other German -- and of a bloody, deadly battle in the sky that led to an extraordinary friendship.

Brown, a fighter pilot, scientist, engineer and happy-hour connoisseur, died last month of heart complications. Born into poverty in West Virginia and a Miamian since the early 1970s, Brown will be buried Saturday at Woodlawn Park Cemetery South. He was 86.

His family and friends remember him as outgoing, gregarious, a man who invented a car part that allowed for greatly enhanced mileage, a loving father, a great friend.

''He was perpetually interested in the natural world, and what made it tick,'' said friend Jim Brodie, director of legislative and cabinet affairs for the state Department of Veteran Affairs.

Brown's story, and his enduring friendship with a German flying ace, is of fairy-tale caliber. It has been told before. It bears retelling.

At the break of dawn five days before Christmas 1943, Brown was piloting a B-17 bomber over Bremen, Germany, looking to strike an aircraft plant. The plane took heavy fire. Its nose was shot off, its engines damaged.

Spiraling toward earth with a dead tail gunner and nine other crew members, Brown -- himself shot in the shoulder -- regained control of the craft, broke formation and continued to take on German fighters.

Then a German pilot, flying a Messerschmitt Bf-109, motioned for Brown to land his crippled plane. Brown defied the order, shaking his head.

What happened next was unexpected: Instead of shooting down the bomber, the German pilot escorted Brown and his crew to the North Sea, saluted, rolled his plane in tribute and flew off.

Brown's plane landed safely on the English coast.

The Allies never revealed the German pilot's act, figuring he would be court-martialed and perhaps executed for failing to shoot down an enemy aircraft.

For decades, Brown wondered about the German pilot -- through his post-war marriage to Delores, the birth of his two daughters in the 1950s, and well past his stint with the State Department during the Vietnam War.

Brown retired from the military as a lieutenant colonel in the early 1970s. Then he moved to Miami, where he spent the next three decades toying around with combustible engines and inventing things like the ''Brown Air Charging System'' -- a device Brodie swears Brown attached to his car to get better gas mileage.

With free time at hand, Brown began a search for the German pilot who spared his life. Not long after a 1986 story of the incident ran in a German newsletter, Brown found Franz Stigler, a German World War II ace living in Surrey, British Columbia, and still flying a Messerschmitt at air shows.

The two met, compared notes and realized Stigler was the pilot. Stigler later said he didn't shoot down the plane because it was so badly damaged it would have been like shooting at a parachute.

Stigler, who died in March, was a legend of the sky. Along with his 487 flights and 28 kills, he was shot down 17 times. From 1990 until Stigler's death earlier this year, he and Brown and their wives were exceptional friends, visiting each other at least twice a year.

''Charlie called him his big brother, and that about sums it up,'' said Stigler's 77-year-old widow, Helga Stigler.

She said her husband had often wondered what happened to the American plane he escorted to sea -- a secret he kept from everyone but her.

Brodie, the Veteran Affairs liaison, met Brown in 1995 after persuading him to tell his story to a South Miami-Dade Rotary Club. Brown took Stigler with him.

''There wasn't a dry eye in the house,'' Brodie said.

In 2007, Brown and his crew received what had been long overdue: recognition. His story was told on the floor of Florida's House of Representatives. Soon after, the Air Force opened its archives on the incident.

In February, the Air Force awarded Brown and the surviving crew members on that December 1943 flight Silver Stars for valor in combat. Brown also received the Air Force's second-highest honor, the Air Force Cross.

In March, Brown's wife of 58 years, Delores, died. Brown succumbed to heart disease not long after, two days before Thanksgiving.

''He wasn't really the type to give up. But he was lost without her,'' said daughter Kimberly.

Brown will be buried with full military honors Saturday. He is survived by daughters Carol Dawn Warner and Kimberly Arnstiger, and three grandchildren.

And still more, with better details of much of the story

( also found at http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/charlie-brown-franz-stigler-17109.html )

20 December 1943

GERMANY: US VIII Bomber Command Mission 159: The port area at Bremen, Germany was hit again. 357 of 407 B-17s, 103 of 127 B-24s and 12 of 12 PFF aircraft hit the target and claimed 21-14-23 Luftwaffe aircraft; 21 B-17s and 6 B-24s were lost; 3 B-17s were damaged beyond repair; 213 B-17s and 34 B-24s were damaged. Window-metal foil strips which, when dropped from an airplane, provided an echo which confused radar locating equipment, was used for the first time on an Eighth Air Force mission. This mission was escorted by 26 P-38s, 418 P-47s and 47 Ninth Air Force P-51s who claimed 19-3-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47s and 4 P-51s were lost; 1 P-47 was damaged beyond repair and 5 P-47s were damaged. The Luftwaffe sent fighters from JG 1, JG 11, JG 26, JG 54, ZG 26, JG 2, JG 3, JG 27 and EKdo. 25. The first pass by the Germans was just at the IP southeast of Delmenhorst and bombers were hit by flak over the target. A second fighter attack began just after bombs away. Flak was heavy and accurate. I. and III./ZG 26 were very active with WR 21cm rockets, protected by single-engined fighters. The chaos was so great that B-17 crews reported that He 111s had attacked them as Bf 110G-2s were sitting out of bomber gunner range, lobbing rockets then closing in on the cripples. The 445th Bomb Group suffered it's first combat loss when 2Lt 'Buck' Patterson's aircraft was downed.

.....The mission would have been recorded in the logbooks as just another mission if not for a unique event that wasn't revealed until decades later. Lt. Charles Brown was a B-17 pilot with the 379th BG and this was his first combat mission. After the bomb run, Brown and his B-17 - named 'Ye Old Pub' - were in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. Before 'bombs away', Brown's B-17 took hits that shattered the plexiglass nose, knocked out the #2 engine, damaged #4 - which frequently had to be throttles back to prevent overspeeding - and caused damage to the controls. Coming off target, 'Ye Old Pub' became a straggler. Almost immediately, the lone and limping B-17 came under fire from a series of attacks from 12 to 15 Bf 109s and Fw 190s that lasted for more than 10 minutes. The bomber's 11 guns were reduced by the extreme cold to only the 2 top turret guns and one forward nose gun. The tailgunner was killed and all but one of the crew were incapacitated by wounds or the frigid air. Lt. Brown had taken a bullet fragment to his shoulder. With 3 seriously injured onboard, he rejected bailing out or crash landing with the alternative a thin chance of reaching England. While nursing the battered bomber toward home, Lt. Brown noticed a Bf 109 flying off his wing. The pilot waved then flew across the B-17's nose and motioned for Brown to land in Germany, which Brown refused to do. After escorting them for several miles out over the North Sea, the Luftwaffe pilot saluted, rolled over and disappeared.

Earlier, after Brown's B-17 had flown over his airfield, Oblt. Franz Steigler of 11./JG 27 was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When neared the bomber, Oblt. Steigler couldn't believe his eyes. In his words, he "had never seen a plane in such a bad state." The tail and rear section was severly damaged and the top gunner was all over the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere. Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the bomber and looked at Lt. Brown. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane. Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved to Lt. Brown to turn 180 degrees. Franz then escorted the stricken plane over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted and turned away, back toward Germany.

'Ye Old Pub' did make it across 250 miles of storm tossed North Sea and landed at Seething near the English coast, home of the 448th BG, which had not yet flown its first mission. When Franz landed, he told his CO that the plane had been shot down over the sea and never told the truth to anybody. Lt. Brown and the remainder of his crew told all at their briefing but were ordered never to talk about it. More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown and Franz Steigler met in the USA at a 379th BG reunion, together with 25 people who were alive - because Franz never fired his guns that day.

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And Still I'm Karl, reporting something important.

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