1944: MEDAL OF HONOR. 1Lt Donald J. Gott (pictured) and 2Lt William E. Metzger’s B-17 received several bad flak hits while flying in a group formation. With only one engine operable, the pilots jettisoned the bombs and made for Allied territory. The rest of the crew parachuted, leaving the pilots and the radio operator, who was too injured to jump, to try a crash landing. Upon reaching friendly airspace and lacking a working intercom system, Metzger left the cockpit to tell the other crewmen to parachute to safety. Gott and Metzger then attempted a crash landing, but the aircraft overshot an open plain and struck a forested area near Hattonville, Meuse, France. Unbeknownst to the pilots, tail gunner Staff Sgt. Herman B. Krimminger had failed to jump clear of the plane and his parachute had become entangled in the tail section. Gott, Dunlap, Krimminger and Metzger were killed because of the crash, explosions and fire. For their actions, both Gott and Metzger were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor six months later, on May 16, 1945. (US Army image)
