WWII newspaper clipping regarding Eddie Rutkowski

Picture Information:

If Eddie's age is listed correctly, this article would have been from late 1942 or early 1943. Some details in the article are incorrect or missing, or perhaps this article references a different occurrence than that which Eddie often spoke of. Eddie spoke of an incident where the pilot temporarily lost consciousness as well as the tail gunner. He said the plane was in a steep nosedive and he had to pull the pilot away from the controls in order to pull the plane up out of the nosedive. Eddie was of very slight build and the pilot weighed considerably more than he did and was much taller. He said that this was what earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery. Eddie remarked that bravery had nothing to do with it. He said he didn't feel like dying and this was the only way to keep the plane from crashing. He said more than once that bravery is usually just a matter of self-preservation. His daughter met the pilot sometime in the 70s. The pilot stayed in touch with Eddie until he died and eventually came to visit him in California.

BACK