Records, photos of famed U.S. WWII bombers go online

My friend Fred Meisel flew 103 combat missions as a gunner, mostly with the 8th Air Force in Europe. He was shot down and taken prisoner in 1944.

The U.S. did not normally bomb cities outside of Germany and Japan, but when Hungary ignored President Roosevelt's warning not to turn over their Jews to the Nazis, FDR ordered the bombing of Budapest. Fred's B-24 was shot down by flak in that raid. He told me that he and a crewmate were captured by civilians who were about to lynch them for bombing civilians when German's arrived and rescued them. He spent the rest of the war as a guest of the Germans.

Only 2% of British and American prisoners of the Germans died in captivity, as opposed to the 50% who died as captives of the Japanese.

The Soviets returned the favor upon the Germans. Of those Germans captured at Stalingrad, roughly 95% died before repatriation.

Jews captured by the Nazis suffered 99+% fatalities.

The 50% death rate among Brit and American prisoners of the Japanese, and the treatment of the Chinese and Koreans by Japanese, is not something to be proud of.

@ 1glenn - thanks for the info and story, always meaningful to hear a personal story of wars. Respect to your friend.