First seen in Phil Callaway’s book – 12 Days of Christmas Stories: E-Book
It’s a holly jolly time, the Christmas season. That time of the year when complete grumps start to grin. People who look like bulldogs in November can transform into golden retrievers around December 15th. If you plan on cutting someone off in traffic this year, it’s best to do it in mid-December. Chances are, the obstructed driver will wave with one of those “don’t worry, I’ve done less than admirable things myself” smiles on their face. Ah Christmastime.
Not long ago I read an unforgettable story of holiday kindness. Take a moment to pour yourself a hot drink; I’d love to share it with you.
It was December the 20th, 1943, five short days before Christmas. American Bomber Pilot Charlie Brown began his bombing run over Bremen Germany in his B-17 Flying Fortress. But before the bomber could release its load, anti-aircraft flak shattered the Plexiglas nose, knocking out the number two engine and crippling engine number four. The bomber slowed to a dangerous crawl. Brown and his crew were forced to fall back, left vulnerable to sustained enemy attacks.
More than a dozen enemy fighters singled out the straggling B-17, attacking at will. Smoke curled from the number three engine. Bullets rendered the bomber’s internal oxygen, hydraulic and electrical systems virtually useless. Worse, half of the bomber’s rudder and its port elevator were lost. The tail gunner was slumped on his weapon, dead. Most of the crew were wounded. Lacking oxygen and hit in the right shoulder, Brown lost consciousness, then rallied in time to find the bomber in a dive. Somehow, he regained control and pulled her out of the steep plunge just in time, then began the impossible flight back to England.
The Germans on the ground spotted Brown’s shattered plane first, and ordered German fighter pilot ace Franz Stigler to finish it off. Franz took off in his Messerschmitt BF 109 and quickly caught up with the crippled plane.
Through the crippled bomber’s airframe, Stigler could see the incapacitated crew. As he flew his fighter level with the bomber’s cockpit, Brown thought, We’re done for.
That’s when it happened.
Franz Stigler waved at Charlie Brown.
If I can get them to divert to Sweden, thought Stigler, they will make it safely. He tried to communicate this to Charlie. But the shocked pilot didn’t understand and flew on. Stigler knew two things: The German anti-aircraft gunners would recognize a German plane and hold their fire. He also knew that protecting his enemy was a treasonous act, carrying with it the penalty of death. But for some reason, he didn’t quit. Flying his Messerschmitt close to Brown’s port side wing, he escorted the damaged B-17 over the coast until they reached open water. There Franz Stigler departed with a salute.
Before long, Brown and his battered crew landed safely in England.
In 1986, the retired Colonel Brown recalled his encounter with the kind German pilot who escorted him to safety, and wondered if there was some way he could track down the man to whom he owed his life. After more than four years of searching, Brown received a letter from Stigler, who was living in Canada. “I was the one,” it said. Brown was ecstatic. Soon they spoke by phone. Stigler described his plane, the escort, the salute—everything Brown needed to know to confirm the identity of the German pilot who had spared his life.
Between 1990 and 2008, Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler became close friends and remained so until their deaths within several months of each other in 2008.
Hearing this, I was reminded of another story. You may have heard it before. It’s the ultimate story of mercy, resulting in friendship. We celebrate each time we say the word Christmas. Each time we sing “Silent Night.” Each time we crack open the book of Luke in the Bible and read the magnificent words, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”
Mercy. We don’t deserve it, but we can accept it. We can’t earn it, but we can offer it. Each day may we bow down and give thanks that God has guided us into new life through faith in the one who has never left our side, Jesus Christ. His mercies are new with the morning light. After all he’s done, let’s spread some mercy around this Christmas.
Zechariah’s Song – Luke 1:67-75 (NIV)
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
