Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal - Pilot - 100th Bomb Group - passing of a great American hero.

[Mark Copeland]

Hello All!!

I have the sad duty to pass along the news of the passing of Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal, famed pilot from the 100th Bomb Group.

"Rosie" passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family on April 20th, 2007 at his home in Harrison, New York. He was 89.

Here is a brief biography:

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Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal was one of the most decorated pilots in the Eighth Air Force and a legend within the "Bloody One-Hundredth" Bombardment Group. The B-17 that Rosie and his copilot Winfrey Lewis flew October 10, 1943 on a bombing mission over Munster was the only plane in their entire group to return to their home base at Thorpe Abbotts on that tragic, fateful day.

Rosie had volunteered and completed two tours of duty and was on his third when, leading the entire Third Air Division, his plane was hit by flak over Berlin on February 3, 1945. With dead and wounded aboard, Rosie held the controls of the crippled ship as long as possible in order for his crew to bailout until, at approximately 1000 feet, Rosie finally parachuted near the Russian lines.

At that time he had competed 52 missions, having been shot down and wounded twice while evading capture.

Only months after Germany's surrender, Rosie, as a young Attorney, was back in Germany as an assistant to the U.S. Prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.
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Rosie was a true gentleman and as modest about his military service as one could be.

On a personal note, Robert Rosenthal has been my hero ever since I first read about him in Ed Jablonski's "Flying Fortress" when I was a young lad of 11 years old.

Now at the age of 46.....I'm very glad that some things never change.

Mark Copeland