A Higher Call :An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-torn Skies of World War II
by Adam Makos with Larry Alexander
Review by Susan Williams
This is a dual biography of two World War II fighter pilots; an American, Charlie Brown and his counterpart, German, Franz Stigler.
In December of 1943, Brown was piloting his badly damaged bomber over Germany. Half of his crew lay wounded or dead. Out of the blue a German fighter plane appeared along side of his aircraft. Seeing the heavy damage to the American plane, the German inexplicably decided not to destroy the enemy plane, but to escort him safely over Germany. In doing so, the German risked a firing squad for helping the enemy escape. People in Germany had been killed for far less.
Stigler, who could trace his family’s ancestry to knights in the 16th century lived by a code. Perhaps he remembered his commanding officer who once told him: “You follow the rules of war for you– not your enemy. You fight by rules to keep your humanity.”
Read this inspiring book and see what happens when these two pilots meet some forty years later.
World War II buffs such as me will enjoy this book.
Check availability on A Higher Call today
About the reviewer: Tredyffrin circulation staff member Susan Williams is interested in World War II and her two beautiful granddaughters.
