| Abstrakt: |
Hie shooting skill and bravery James Howard saw in Beerbower surfaced on December 30, when Don and his wingman Carl Lind crippled a twin-engine Dornier Do-217. Beerbower's "Bonnie 'B's" Don Beerbower and his crew chief, Staff Sgt. Leon Panter, had two P-51Bs assigned to them. Off to war When the Ninth Air Force's 354th Fighter Group arrived in Great Britain in early November 1943, Don and his friends discovered they would be the first fighter pilots to fly the North American P-51B Mustang in combat. Squadron historian and on intelligence officer Albert Feigen, writing to Don's father in 1945, said this about friend and colleague: "As long as any one of us remains, the name and the character and the heroism of Don Beerbower will be remembered.". [Extracted from the article] |
