![\"Engelstad](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/07\/IMG_2466.jpg\")
<\/a>(Photograph by my wife)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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We were rained upon Wednesday night, during the first portion of Romeo and Juliet<\/em>. \u00a0However, the weather apps that we consulted had assured us that there was no chance of rain yesterday. \u00a0And who am I going to trust? \u00a0The experts? \u00a0Or my lying eyes? \u00a0Nevertheless, we retreated for a little while to a covered area of the open air theater in which the Capulets and the Montagues were shortly to do their thing. \u00a0Finally, though, the no-rain \u2014 which was surprisingly wet \u2014 dissipated and the play proceeded without damage. \u00a0Except for one actor\u2019s foot-slipping during a sword fight, prior to the final appearance of the backstage staff with cloths and mops.<\/p>\n This afternoon, Thursday afternoon, the no-rain and the thunder grew so intense while we were attending an indoor matinee of Shakespeare\u2019s Coriolanus<\/em> \u2014 I know, I know: you\u2019re all desperately eager for my drama reviews, but they will come perhaps tomorrow or, more likely, on Saturday \u2014 that the rumbling and the pounding on the roof nearly drowned the actors out and we had to pause for about ten minutes owing to a power outage. \u00a0I was happy, afterwards, to see that our car had not been washed away.<\/p>\n We had a late breakfast today with friends \u2014 former neighbors \u2014 who have moved to a beautiful new hilltop home in Hurricane, from which they have a magnificent view across to Zion National Park.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In stolen moments, I\u2019ve been reading a non-fiction book about a pair of pilots during the Second World War \u2014 one American and the other German \u2014 that was recently given to me by a good friend and neighbor. \u00a0It\u2019s by Adam Makos, with Larry Alexander, and it\u2019s entitled A Higher Call<\/a>. \u00a0<\/em>One of the things that I\u2019ve most appreciated about it thus far is its humanizing portrayal of pilots for the German Luftwaffe<\/em>, who were by no means all Nazis. \u00a0(Many, in fact, were not. \u00a0More than a few actually held the Hitler regime in contempt.)<\/p>\n The focus of A Higher Call<\/em> is a brief event in the skies over Germany in December 1943, when a badly damaged American B-17 bomber was struggling to fly out of German airspace, captained by a twenty-one-year-old Second Lieutenant by the name of Charlie Brown. \u00a0Really. \u00a0Charlie Brown. \u00a0Half of his crew, who were trying to return from their first combat mission, were either dead or wounded. \u00a0Suddenly, a Messerschmidt fighter, piloted by an experienced German ace named Franz Stigler, pulled up alongside the American plane.<\/p>\n Stigler needed just one more bomber \u201ckill\u201d to earn himself an Iron Cross. \u00a0But he was also \u2014 and I think this significant \u2014 a devout Catholic who always carried a rosary with him and who had once, briefly, even considered becoming a priest. \u00a0But he had been subjected to Nazi propaganda about the causes of the war \u2014 they were defending the Fatherland! \u2014 and his older brother, August, who was also a Luftwaffe pilot, had been killed very early in the war, in 1939, and so, unsurprisingly, Franz went through a period of bitter anger.<\/p>\n Seeing the desperate condition of the B-17 and (he was close enough to do it) the plight of its young crew, though, he chose rather to escort them past the German anti-aircraft batteries on the shore of the North Sea so that they might have a chance to live. \u00a0It\u2019s a stunning story. \u00a0What Stigler did could easily have earned him the firing squad for treason \u2014 particularly since his brother, August, had, it turned out, been strongly anti-Nazi. \u00a0(After August\u2019s death, it was discovered that he had in his possession a copy of Pope Pius XI\u2019s anti-Nazi encyclical Mit brennender Sorge<\/a>., <\/i>and it was even suggested that he might have had contact with famous Catholic-oriented Wei\u00dfe Rose<\/em><\/a> [White Rose] resistance group in Munich.) \u00a0Both Franz Stigler and his mother had therefore been subjected to frightening interviews by the Gestapo.<\/p>\n Helping to save an American B-17 and its crew would certainly<\/em> have been considered traitorous, since much lesser offenses were punished as such: \u00a0For example, the book briefly recalls the story of a German war widow who was working in a munitions factory. \u00a0She made the mistake of telling a joke: \u00a0Hitler and Goering were standing atop the Berlin radio tower when Hitler said that he wanted to do something great for the German people, something that would put smiles on their faces. \u00a0Did Goering have any suggestions? \u00a0\u201cCertainly,\u201d Goering replied. \u00a0\u201cWhy don\u2019t you jump?\u201d \u00a0Another worker in the factory reported the woman, and she was was executed.<\/p>\n Adam Makos, the principal author of A Higher Call<\/em>, was able to interview both Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown for the book, as well as others who were centrally or peripherally involved in the story.<\/p>\n From time to time, I\u2019ll share with you an anecdote from the book about unexpected acts of humanity or surprisingly charitable attitudes among German pilots. \u00a0There are a number of them. \u00a0Here\u2019s one:<\/p>\n Franz Stigler had been fascinated by flight since he was a young boy, when he and his brother began flying gliders in an aeronautics club that involved their priest as an advisor. \u00a0When he was conscripted into the Luftwaffe<\/em> and posted to Libya for the North African campaign, his mentor as a military fighter pilot was a man named Gustav Roedel.<\/p>\n Very early on, Roedel asked Stigler what he would do if ever he saw a British or American airman parachuting from an injured airplane. \u00a0Stigler replied that he had never really thought about the question. \u00a0Roedel, who was normally quite cheery, became stern and serious. \u00a0\u201cHonor is everything here,\u201d he told Stigler,<\/p>\n \u201cIf I ever see or hear of you shooting at a man in a parachute,\u201d Roedel said, \u201cI will shoot you down myself . . . \u00a0You follow the rules of war for you<\/em>, not for your enemy,\u201d Roedel said. \u00a0\u201cYou fight by rules to keep your humanity<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0(54, emphasis in the original)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Another North African anecdote struck me, as well:<\/p>\n Roedel asked how the mission went. \u00a0\u201cI got my first kill, sir,\u201d Franz said. \u00a0Roedel\u2019s smile slowly disappeared. \u00a0Franz wondered if he had said something wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cI got two,\u201d Voegl added. \u00a0Roedel seemed unimpressed. \u00a0He asked if there were any losses.<\/p>\n \u201cThree,\u201d Voegl replied. \u00a0\u201cFluder, Krenzke, and Gromotka.\u201d \u00a0The missing pilots were from Squadron 6. \u00a0Fluder had been the squadron leader and Roedel\u2019s friend. \u00a0Franz told Roedel he had witnessed both Fluder\u2019s and Krenzke\u2019s 109s exploding and was certain that both had been killed.<\/p>\n \u201cThen why are you both smiling?\u201d Roedel asked, his eyes emotional.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of his first kill,\u201d Voegl said.<\/p>\n Roedel dropped his arms to his sides.<\/p>\n \u201cYou score victories<\/em>, not kills,\u201d Roedel told Voegl, frustrated. \u00a0\u201cHaven\u2019t you learned anything?\u201d \u00a0Turning to Franz, Roedel added, \u201cYou shoot at a machine<\/em> not a man.\u201d . . .<\/p>\n Franz sulked back to his tent, alone. \u00a0He had achieved a fighter pilot\u2019s milestone and tasted revenge [for his brother\u2019s death]. \u00a0Instead of feeling accomplishment, he suddenly felt very hollow.\u201d \u00a0(69-70, emphasis in the original)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As a boy, having seen many movies and documentaries about World War Two, I regarded all Germans of that period as Nazis and, accordingly, as demonically, inhumanly evil. \u00a0I\u2019ve long since outgrown that na\u00efve and unnuanced view, but it\u2019s still good to read accounts of decency amidst war. \u00a0(That, I think, is why we love the story of the First World War\u2019s famous \u201cChristmas Truce.\u201d \u00a0It reminds us that goodness remains possible.)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Posted from Cedar City, Utah<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u00a0 We were rained upon Wednesday night, during the first portion of Romeo and Juliet. \u00a0However, the weather apps that we consulted had assured us that there was no chance of rain yesterday. \u00a0And who am I going to trust? \u00a0The experts? \u00a0Or my lying eyes? \u00a0Nevertheless, we retreated for a little while to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":101396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[36536,36539,36545,36542,5526,5532],"class_list":["post-101393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-a-higher-call","tag-adam-makos","tag-charlie-brown","tag-franz-stigler","tag-second-world-war","tag-world-war-two"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>