[kaki3152]

Found this excerpt in a book about a Medic In WWII during the invasion of Sicily. I believe this happened on July 12,1943. Any ideas as to the identity of the pilot?


"We dig in behind a four foot dirt parapet bordering the field. D-Day plus one [July 11,1943], and we had captured the Comiso airport.
Until late the next afternoon, German fighter planes coming down from Italy thought they'd be in for a nice, friendly reception. That first afternoon I watched as our fighter planes swooped down on three Germans and shot them down as neatly as in a movie.
One of the planes crash landed less than fifty yards in front of me. As its wheels touched the ground, it hit a hunk of wreckage from a bombing the day before. The pilot flew out of his cockpit and his parachute opened in a long trail behind him. He came to a sudden stop when his head hit the prop of another wrecked plane. I went to look after him. His brains were exposed . I figured him for dead but Lt. Ralph Barker said, "Check him, Doc, I think he's still alive." I checked his pulse and was surprised to find it was as strong as mine.
I didn't know what to do and was saved when our aid station jeep pulled up with Sternlieb, one of our two doctors. He said there was nothing we could do for the fellow; "Just make him comfortable." The guy was unconscious. How do I make him comfortable?
I cut away the pilot's flying togs to check for wounds and saw two very sturdy legs wearing gabardine shorts. He was a nice looking fellow. The ID papers in his wallet showed he was twenty three. There were photos-a family, maybe mother and father, two young girls, a few German coins, and several paper marks, postage stamps with Hitler's picture, two paper wrapped condoms and a map with a penciled map from northern Italy. The outside of his wallet was marked with the names of various large cities he'd been in. Comiso was still to be added. His pulse weakened and soon died away. So did he. This was the first man I'd watched die and I felt sorry for him."