The Story of the Bad Angel!  Pima Air & Space Museum...    
   

P-51 Mustang "Bad Angel" in Hanger #4 at Pima Air and Space Museum.
 
Until the Mustangs came into service, the skies over the Pacific Ocean were dominated by Japanese Zeros. Proudly displayed on the fuselage of 'Bad Angel' were the markings of the pilot's kills: seven Nazis; one Italian; one Japanese  AND ONE AMERICAN. Huh?  

 
"Bad Angel" shot down an American airplane?
 

                           

Kill marks on "Bad Angel"
 
Was it a terrible mistake? Couldn't be. If it had been an unfortunate misjudgment, certainly the pilot would not have displayed the American flag.

 

Here is the rest of the story. 

 

                           ********************

In 1942, the United States needed pilots for its war planes, lots of war planes, lots of pilots. Lt. Louis Curdes was one. When he was 22 years old, he graduated flight training school and was shipped off to the Mediterranean to fight Nazis in the air over Southern Europe.

        
      Lt. Louis Curdes.

He arrived at his 82nd Fighter Group, 95th Fighter Squadron in April, 1943, and was assigned a P-38 Lightning. Ten days later he shot down three German Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters. A few weeks later, he downed two more German Bf-109's.  

In less than a month of combat, Louis was an Ace. During the next three months, Louis shot down an Italian Mc.202 fighter and two more Messerschmitt Bf-109's before his luck ran out.  

A German fighter shot down his plane on August 27, 1943, over Salerno, Italy. Captured by the Italians, he was sent to a POW camp near Rome.   No doubt this is where he thought he would spend the remaining years of the war. It wasn't to be. A few days later, the Italians surrendered. Louis and a few other pilots escaped before the Nazis could take control of the camp.

One might think that such harrowing experiences would have taken the fight out of Louis, yet he volunteered for another combat tour. This time, Uncle Sam sent him to the Philippines where he flew P-51 Mustangs. Soon after arriving in the Pacific Theater, Louis downed a Mitsubishi reconnaissance plane near Formosa. Now he was one of only three Americans to have kills against all three Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan.

 

              Pilot Lt. Louis Curdes in his P-51 Mustang "Bad Angel"

Up until this point, young Lt. Curdes' combat career had been stellar.   His story was about to take a twist so bizarre that it seems like the fictional creation of a Hollywood screenwriter.

While attacking the Japanese-held island of Bataan, one of Louis wingmen was shot down. The pilot ditched in the ocean. Circling overhead, Louis could see that his wingman had survived, so he stayed in the area to guide a rescue plane and protect the downed pilot.

It wasn't long before he noticed another, larger airplane, wheels down, preparing to land at the Japanese-held airfield on Bataan.   He moved in to investigate. Much to his surprise the approaching plane was a Douglas C-47 transport with American markings.  

He tried to make radio contact, but without success. He maneuvered his Mustang in front of the big transport several times trying to wave it off. The C-47 kept heading to its landing target. Apparently the C-47 crew didn't realize they were about to land on a Japanese held island, and soon would be captives.

Lt. Curdes read the daily newspaper accounts of the war, including the viciousness of the Japanese soldiers toward their captives.   He knew that whoever was in that American C-47 would be, upon landing, either dead or wish they were.  But what could he do?

Audaciously, he lined up his P-51 directly behind the transport, carefully sighted one of his .50 caliber machine guns and knocked out one of its two engines. Still the C-47 continued on toward the Bataan airfield. Curdes shifted his aim slightly and knocked out the remaining engine, leaving the baffled pilot no choice but to ditch in the ocean.

One of "Bad Angel's" .50 caliber machine guns built into it wings

50 caliber ammo for P-51 Mustangs.

The big plane came down in one piece about 50 yards from his bobbing wingman.  

At this point, nightfall and low fuel forced Louis to return to base. The next morning, Louis flew cover for a rescuing PBY that picked up the downed Mustang pilot and 12 passengers and crew, including two female nurses, from the C-47.   All survived, and later, Lt. Curdes would end up marrying one of these nurses.

 

For shooting down an unarmed American transport plane, Lt. Louis Curdes was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Thereafter, on the fuselage of his P-51 "Bad Angel", he proudly displayed the symbols of his kills: seven German, one Italian, one Japanese  and one American flag.

 

And As Paul Harvey use to say “ now you know the rest of the story “ !!!The story of the "Bad Angel"

 

Very interesting, Stick. Been to the Pima Air Museum several times but, never saw this particular plane and story. 

Thanks for posting it.

Good Story Stick! Thanks for posting

ya know..
looking at the kill picture.. it looks like Curdes got 7 Germans, 1 Jap, 1 American and 3 tooth brushes...

38 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

and 3 tooth brushes...

Apparently the Italians flew toothbrushes

Great story & post Stick...Thanks!

Just caught up on the whole Starbucks thing too...totally had missed all that...was during the time Mom passed...I'd quit patronizing Starbucks a long time ago...had no use for their "holiday cup theme", coffee was way overpriced and was just plain awful.

 

We have a little independent coffee shop in our county seat. His coffees make Starbucks taste like the swill water they are; and his coffee are small, medium large, not whatever SB lingo gimmick is.

On top of that, the 'ole guy who operates is an immigrant who is a true American...love visiting with him; he is just a pleasure to talk with, hear his stories and experiences. He is always positive and upbeat...very proud of his old 1967 Ford pick-up he drives daily.

 

He came to the U.S right after WWII (1946)...said he arrived at O'Hare Airport (Chicago) from Greece and was thankful to be in the U.S...when he walked down the ramp (no fancy boarding terminals then) it was snowing so hard you could barely see your hand in front of your face...first time in his life he had ever seen snow...One of his proudest moments ever was when he became a citizen of the U.S.

 

He has fantastic scones, bakalava (sp?) and other sweet treats too. Oh yeah, his gyros are literally to die for as well. Each cup of coffee (or hot tea) comes with a chocolate covered roasted coffee bean. He has a specific coffee farm in Brazil he orders these beans special...just makes the coffee that much better.

 

We are blessed to have such a place in our area and I'm honored to support him...always a special treat to go through the drive through there...yet another reason I'll never patronize Starbucks besides their anti-American rhetoric...OK, sorry for the ramble, hi-jacking your thread...Please return to the regular purpose of this thread.

This is just amazing to me, not only is it huge, the proportions are correct. It took someone a lot of time to map it out and even more to plant it.     I don't know who they are, but thank you for what you have done. With things which are currently going on in our country, it is great to see the American

Spirit is still alive

 

 

THE ONLY FLAG THAT DOESN'T FLY

 

Between the fields where the flag is planted, there are 9+ miles of flower fields that go all the way to the ocean. The flowers are grown by seed companies. It's a beautiful place, close to Vandenberg AFB.      

Check out the dimensions of the flag. The Floral Flag is 740 feet long and 390 feet wide and maintains the proper Flag dimensions, as described in Executive Order #10834.

This Flag is 6.65 acres and is the first Floral Flag to be planted with 5 pointed Stars, comprised of White Larkspur. Each Star is 24 feet in diameter, each Stripe is 30 feet wide.

This Flag is estimated to contain more than 400,000 Larkspur plants with 4-5 flower stems each, for a total of more than 2 million flowers.
For our soldiers...Please don't break it!

 

That's just amazing, Stick. 

Thanks for bringing it to us. 

https://t.co/wbIjQ0ix4X

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Az0okaHig&feature=youtu.be

13 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Az0okaHig&feature=youtu.be

 

Sounds like the daily news.

VID-20170807-WA0002.mp4

I miss him.

On 10/1/2017 at 9:36 AM, Stick486 said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Az0okaHig&feature=youtu.be

Do you guys see a video not available message at the link?

21 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Do you guys see a video not available message at the link?

That is what I got.  It may be the same as the clip he posted after that.

Cal

57 minutes ago, clhyer said:

That is what I got.  It may be the same as the clip he posted after that.

Cal

Original author must of pulled the video for some reason.

I hit the link and it downloaded. Then I opened it. Worked for me. Pretty funny. Ronnie at his best.

1 hour ago, Gene Howe said:

I hit the link and it downloaded. Then I opened it. Worked for me. Pretty funny. Ronnie at his best.

This one Gene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Az0okaHig&feature=youtu.be