... the Army Air Forces ace, who has died at the age of 94.
[In June 1944], he was in his P-51 making a strafing run over a German airfield when he was shot down. He fled into a birch forest before collapsing from injuries. He eventually was caught by the Germans and threatened with execution.
He recalled that one captor asked him if he wanted a drink or another indulgence before being shot. Mr. Goodson spied a box of Havana cigars, asked for a stogie and began to blow smoke rings, which he said shocked the German and led to a conversation about their mutual interest in cigars.
“The guy had never seen anything like that,” Mr. Goodson once said in an interview, “and I started teaching him how to blow smoke rings.” Instead of being shot, he was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
“People say smoking costs lives,” he said. “It saved my life.”
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22 comments:
He should have shown them the fake pull the thumb off trick. They would have sent him home.
Reminds me of a Commander McBragg cartoon episode.
In the McBragg voice, of course:
"There, Germany! Did I ever tell you about the time... I was shot-down and captured by the Hun, and threatened with execution?
Before being summarily shot, I was granted one final request: a cigar. Cleverly, I blew smoke rings around the enemy..."
"Absolutely Smashing... Quite."
Just looking at the your headline on my RSS reader I was certain it would be a case of a cigarette case stopping a bullet. This was even better.
No smoking didn't save his life, it killed him. He only lived for 94 years. -)
It figures that a guy capable of mastering piloting at such a young age would also have a few other tricks up his sleeve, like blowing smoke rings. I wonder what else he could do.
Great story. Quite a guy.
The good die young.
I've been going through my Dad's stuff, and found his Good Conduct Ribbon (he got out of the service as a Cpl -- only -- because of his smart mouth, yet he got the Good Conduct Medal), and Dad wanted to save that. Not much else though.
Sounds like a load of bull.
Ah, the Wehrmacht, what a great enemy they were. Why can't we find one like that anymore?
Eric the Fruit Bat said...
Sounds like a load of bull.
I don't know, a lot of crazy things happened back then. He was a hell of a man.
I recently met a tobacco industry executive. I'd been puzzled why so little tobacco is now grown in North Carolina. It's a high income crop that supported many rural communities.
He said federal laws required tobacco companies to buy most of the tobacco used in cigarettes from farmers in other countries.
I couldn't believe it. Surely, that cannot be true...We're enriching farmers in other countries while unemployment is sky high in the rural South?
great story, but the Wehrmacht had no track record of shooting Western prisoners captured in unambiguous circumstances. (e.g. in uniform, not mixed with partisans)
Drill Sgt., maybe overall, but note the date--he was shot down in June 1944. There are plenty of stories of Germans executing prisoners in the weeks after D-Day.
The P-51 Mustang was the outstanding fighter of WWII.
It was a great mistake to use it for low-level strafing. Look at a picture of one and note the air-scoop on the belly. Great for picking up the debris of the target you just blew up.
Lots of pilots downed by this flaw.
Hang gliding nearly cost me my life at least two times over the years, but once, it probably saved it. In front of me while driving home on the freeway a car drove over a large sheet of plywood. Somehow the wind from the passing car caused the piece of plywood to become airborne. It got high enough to smash through my windshield. It happened so quickly I had no time to swerve out of the way. Luckily I was flying that day, because the front rack that holds up the end of the glider took the impact.
There's an adage in the Air Force.
"Don't parachute near people you've just bombed."
LarsPorsena said...
The P-51 Mustang was the outstanding fighter of WWII.
A lot of Navy pilots would disagree on that point!
It was a great mistake to use it for low-level strafing. Look at a picture of one and note the air-scoop on the belly. Great for picking up the debris of the target you just blew up.
Lots of pilots downed by this flaw.
The Mustang was liquid-cooled like many other fighters of the day (Hurricane, Spitfire, P-40, P-38, Me-109, later FW-190s, etc.) Punch a hole in the radiator and you'll very soon lose an engine. Fighters with air-cooled radial engines like the P-47 could take a lot more damage. The P-47's eight .50 caliper machine guns (and bombs and rockets) could also dish out a lot of punishment as well. It was a good air-to-air fighter but an awe inspiring ground attack plane.
He looks dashing in that photograph. Not really handsome, but a certain joie de vive radiates from it.
A night of drinking beer saved me from getting an awful tattoo. This was in the days before ATMs and easy credit cards, so by the time I'd drunk so much beer, I did not have enough cash to pay for the Bugs Bunny tat I planned for my forearm.
Not quite the same league, but the irony is still there.
And about 3 out of every 1000 unbelted drivers who are ejected from a vehicle are less injured than if they'd been securely belted in ...
In his autobiography, Chuck Yeager told the story of an RAF officer who flew P-51s with them over occupied France. He would descend to lower altitudes to light his pipe (which would not burn well at higher altitudes). His wing-men were always terrified of the German aa fire, but he'd just say "those blighters can't hit anything." Eventually he was shot down by the Germans while lighting his pipe. So I guess it all comes out even.
In his autobiography, Chuck Yeager told the story of an RAF officer who flew P-51s with them over occupied France. He would descend to lower altitudes to light his pipe (which would not burn well at higher altitudes). His wing-men were always terrified of the German aa fire, but he'd just say "those blighters can't hit anything." Eventually he was shot down by the Germans while lighting his pipe. So I guess it all comes out even.
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