In November 1943, the B-17 Flying Fortress Romance was about to begin its bombing run over Germany when a flight of German Focke-Wulf 190s launched a fierce attack. Enemy fire struck the cockpit, severely wounding both the pilot and co-pilot.
The pilot, Captain Charles Ohl, was removed from his seat by LT Harold Stralser, the plane’s navigator who began tending to the unconscious and badly wounded man. Meanwhile, the co-pilot, First Lieutenant Martin Downey, managed to guide the plane toward the target.
With the command “the plane is yours”, Romance’s bombardier, 1LT George “Pappy” Heinz, had control of the aircraft and would soon release the bombs on target. For Pappy, this mission would complete his tour, with the distinction as the first member of the 381st Bombardment Group to “finish up” and return home.
After success with the “bombs away” part of the mission the Romance was again in the hands of the co-pilot, who was frequently blacking out. Seeing this LT Strasler, despite having no flying experience or training in a Flying Fortress, took the controls, alternating between piloting the plane and administering first aid to Downey. All the while, German fighters continued their relentless assault.
Stralser’s evasive maneuvers were so extreme he feared his actions might leave the rest of the squadron vulnerable. After consulting with Downey during one of his brief moments of consciousness, the two agreed that Romance had to leave the formation to avoid endangering the entire squadron.
Stralser descended and signaled the rest of the formation that they were breaking away. However, the squadron refused to leave Romance behind. The tail gunner soon reported the rest of the squadron was still in formation with them.
Assuming his signal hadn’t been understood, Stralser climbed back to altitude, flew level, and repeated the signal—but once again, the squadron wouldn’t leave the Romance to fend on its own as a vulnerable straggler.
Through incredible determination and skill, LT Stralser managed to bring Romance and her crew safely back to base. When Stralser later confronted the pilot of the number two bomber, Lieutenant Daniel Haggerty, about why the squadron hadn’t continued without them, Haggerty replied: “It was his last mission. He had to get back… if he didn’t, none of us would.”
Thanks to the bravery and teamwork of the men aboard Romance and the entire squadron, Lieutenant George “Pappy” Heinz completed his tour and returned home. For his extraordinary actions that day, LT Harold Stralser was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was later promoted to Captain and survived the war. He passed away on April 4, 2004, at the age of 83.

Please view our other videos to learn about our Medal of Honor heroes.

Photos Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

🎵 Music by https://pixabay.com/users/alex_makemusic-24186663/

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZMN1lzlPAu16EUXJlHOj2w/join

Copyright © 2025 Duty & Valor. All rights reserved.