Sgt. Rock
Full Access Member
Roanoke, VA.:
Roanoke lost one of its most decorated World War II veterans last weekend. Former fighter pilot William Overstreet Jr., famous for flying beneath the arches of the Eiffel Tower while chasing a German aircraft during the war, died Sunday afternoon. He was 92.
Overstreet was awarded hundreds of medals for his service in the 357th squadron of the U.S. Army Air Forces, according to his obituary for Oakey’s Funeral Home. One of his greatest honors was being awarded France’s Legion of Honor by the French ambassador to the U.S. in 2009 at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford.
At the ceremony, the French ambassador said Overstreet led “some of the most heroic actions that we have ever heard of” during the liberation of France in the Second World War.
Overstreet’s most famous flight came while in solo pursuit of a German Messerschmitt Bf 109G flying into Nazi-occupied Paris. He maneuvered his plane beneath the arches of the Eiffel Tower, re-igniting the motivations of the French Resistance troops on the ground.
Other famous pilots of his squadron consisted of Chuck Yeager and Bud Anderson.
357th Fighter Group - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roanoke lost one of its most decorated World War II veterans last weekend. Former fighter pilot William Overstreet Jr., famous for flying beneath the arches of the Eiffel Tower while chasing a German aircraft during the war, died Sunday afternoon. He was 92.
Overstreet was awarded hundreds of medals for his service in the 357th squadron of the U.S. Army Air Forces, according to his obituary for Oakey’s Funeral Home. One of his greatest honors was being awarded France’s Legion of Honor by the French ambassador to the U.S. in 2009 at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford.
At the ceremony, the French ambassador said Overstreet led “some of the most heroic actions that we have ever heard of” during the liberation of France in the Second World War.
Overstreet’s most famous flight came while in solo pursuit of a German Messerschmitt Bf 109G flying into Nazi-occupied Paris. He maneuvered his plane beneath the arches of the Eiffel Tower, re-igniting the motivations of the French Resistance troops on the ground.
Other famous pilots of his squadron consisted of Chuck Yeager and Bud Anderson.
357th Fighter Group - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia