Shot Down: A B-17 Pilot's Survival Behind Enemy Lines

Well everything here on the shelf in the art sports.

Everything in between including your story. Seven hour American stories.com for some of our favorite. We love telling you quirky stories from our history here on the show and this one comes to you from Bill Bright, a friend from New Hampshire.

It's a story of the best worst counterfeiter in American history Emerick Ticknor, also known as Edward Mueller who lived near Broadway and W. 96th St. in Manhattan eluded the counterfeiting laws from 1938, 1948, longer than any other maker of the clear in American history. The first 63 years of Life or upright and respectable short blue-eyed white haired mustachioed blessed with a winning if toothless grin. Gartner had learned the rudiments of photo engraving in his native Austria after emigrating to America at 13, he worked as a building superintendent while tinkering with numerous unsuccessful inventions with his children grown the newly widowed job retired in 1937 to the upper West side. He lived with his Mongol terrier worked as a junkman picking up discarded appliances and old tires from vacant lots with pushcart but he wasn't making enough to live on and soon found himself nearing destitution.

So using his ancient breathing skills. He photographed a dollar bill and recorded the images on sensitized zinc plates which he then attached in an acid bath with a little retouching in a small hand pressed he was ready to make more money by well making more money. The US Secret Service, which is just counterfeiter since 1865 protecting presidents became part of their mission. Only in 1901, first noticed Jenner's activity when a phony one dollar silver certificate turned up a cigar store on Broadway near 102nd St., even as the agency open new case file number 880 agents felt everything about the bill was unusual no one in recent times it considered singles Ward the trouble to counterfeit, more importantly, the bill was obviously laughably bad.

While US currency was printed on 75% cotton and 25% women stocked with red and blue fibers of various lengths embedded in the paper. Jenner had used cheap bond paper from some corner store numbers were fuzzy. Many of the letters were misshaped or illegible. Washington's portrait was, as the Secret Service itself reported, poorly executed Washington's right shoulder blends with the oval background left eye is represented by a black spot.

The right eye is almond shaped, but the bogus singles kept turning up those that could be traced been passed to the subway and elevated lines and newspaper vendors, bartenders and other small businesses that handled hundreds if not thousands of one dollar bills daily.

Jenner carefully passed his fakes only at busy times such as rush-hour on the subway. The five cent fare paid with a phony dollar yielded a $0.95 profit and as the Secret Service later learned Jenner never spent a stake in the same store twice and passed only one or two pills a day. By December 1939 file 880 contain some 600 counterfeits.

The bills grew worse with time, while touching up the plates. Jenner misspelled the president's name as W a HSING PON why she's done, Leslie kept passing bogus singles throughout World War II.

Despite excessive treasury publicity campaigns.

Apparently many of those who found themselves holding a Jenner counterfeit kept it as a souvenir. Instead of turning it over to the government. By 1947 the Secret Service held over 5000 of Jenner's phony singles yet, despite what New Yorker writer asked St. Claire McElwain called a manhunt that exceeded in intensity and scope any other manhunt in the Chronicles of counterfeiting, despite thousands of interviews and hundreds of thousands of flyers.

The agency didn't have a clue his identity a few weeks before Christmas 1947 Jenner's apartment caught fire. New York's bravest in extinguishing the blaze pile. The old man's junk in an alley where a sudden snowstorm buried it.

The homeless old man stayed in Queens with his daughter while his apartment was being repaired by January 13, 1948.

Several neighborhood youths noticed some 30 strange looking one dollar bills lying about the alley.

Unlike countless businessmen who accepted objective signals. The kids instantly realized the bills were bogus.

One of their parents took some to the W. 100th St. station house for detectives identified them as counterfeit. The Secret Service quickly identified the tenant to lose singed furnishings had been dumped in the alley interested Jenner when he returned to his apartment.

A few days later, Jenner had succeeded because he passed no more bogus singles than necessary for his survival only knocking off a few bills whenever he needed food or help paying his $25 monthly rent blandly admitting everything. Jenner was sentenced to a year and a day and find one dollar. It was released after four months to live with his daughter and her family after McElwain profiled him in the New Yorker, 20th Century Fox found Mr. 880 with Edmund when renowned is Chris Pringle in miracle on 34th St. in the title role, Jenner made more money from the film then be had as a counterfeit and great job on that. Robbie and thanks to Bill Bright car friend from New Hampshire for delivering this story and my goodness, one dollar at a time, not 20s, not hundreds dollar at a time. This man had. If anything, great discipline, and what a great story and we love telling all sort of funny stories about our whole team was laughing at this when it was quite amusing will break egg so much again. Our friend from New Hampshire and Emerick Jetton are story the best worst counterfeiter in American history here on our American stores view of the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, risking you to become a part of the all American stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country. Please make a donation monthly gift of $17.76 is fast becoming a favorite option for support. Little L American stories.com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming out American stories.com. Geico asks how would you love a chance to save some money on insurance, of course, the way when it comes to great rates on insurance.

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Decades after it was released in 1977. The movie slapshot holds up as one of the true classic of American sports film. It's comical depiction of a minor-league hockey team, resorting to violent play to gain popularity in a declining factory down still resonates with audiences around the world.

Much of the film successes today with Paul Newman's performance as an aging player coach, but the movie might never have achieved its iconic status without the bespectacled brawling characters known as the Hanson brothers played by former Johnston Jets players Steve and Jeff Carlson and David Hansen. David Hansen grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota where he eventually started in football, baseball and hockey and humble high school he played for the University of Minnesota under legendary coach Herb Brooks and of course that's hockey pants and then played for the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota North stars, the National Hockey League, the following excerpts are from a video interview with Dave Hansen by Paul Guggenheim was recorded in Pittsburgh and is provided courtesy of primal interviews with Paul Guggenheim, let's go to Dave Hansen what I tell people is the movie is is based on our fact infection.

It was based on a team that is playing for Johnstown Pennsylvania college I sound Jets in 1974, 75 and pre-much everything ago is on the movie In one form or fashion.

There was three brothers plan for us. There were baked tile for glass name Jeff Jack and Steve Carlson. There was a sonic team that was called Dave Keller Hansen i.e. me, and then all the other characters on the TV or on the other teams were either real characters of the game or combination carries the game self. So Nancy Dowd who was the sister of one of the players on the team came down the start falls around and wrote the scrap obviously they wrote in the three brothers in the Keller and a few other people when they got around to making the film and casting for the film they wanted to get a actors like Nick Nolte, Peter Strauss and group of Hollywood actors to play these roles course because you have Paul Newman. The number one act at the time of Hollywood love these guys cannot skate no matter how they tried again lessons and took amount hockey practices and hired private instructors in the disk again skate well enough to make it look like a professional game.

So Nancy basically said why don't we go back and let these guys be themselves and see if that would work out and basically that's what happened. They came back to Johnstown. They banned the Hollywood George the director Nancy. The others in Santa cost brothers down and sat myself down. We write a few lines in the scrap they shook their heads, and yet they still took a shot at Edison and pretty INNOCENT so as to be Jeff Jack and Steve Costa Libby answer brothers Dave Keller Hansen going to be difficult Carlson but Jack ended up going Edmonton Oilers to play.

When we got around the film, and so they just plucked me out of the Carlson roles for men is a Hansen brother, where often running are often skate patients. Okay guys show us what you got when we had first stuck in front of the camera and were told act given lines. We really were bad we robotic and it took a couple times and you could see where George Rachel is getting frustrated and finally got to the point where George said let's stop for a minute take a breath and pull the societies locate boys. This doesn't seem to be working too well. Lisa Celeste try different angle. What would you do in this situation and I hearest it, set it up and we'd say we would just react. We would probably just screw something off Phyllis to give that a try next shot.

We did and we pulled it off. You can ad lib. some staffing through an irregular staff and and he disses that's great.

Don't change it as to where will roll from nonself to really boil down to, quite frankly, that the actors were in one acting the hockey players are South were just being ourselves to hands her 20 2122 years old and in order to three of us and when they first came the lesson. He says eight would you guys like to do a movie we saw how I was going to take it take to three months through summer we were used to take the summers off going back to Minnesota playing softball summerlong drinking beer and get ready for training In the fall. So was like okay well why not. Let's give this a try.

So we had no idea for us it was just an opportunity to drink a lot of beer have free food get paid for doing something and you need Paul Newman and hope to meet some checks and no fast fun doing it.

So we had no clue even to the point where before the film came out Universal Studios came back to us and offered us a seven year seven movie contract and we said that we want to be hockey players they want to be actors so there is there is an indication of how smart we work I was having a pregame nap in my apartment and there is knocking going on the door handle wakes me up and is knocking still going.

I know what an on-site open and are in a land where my roommate dirty sweat socks. I just opened the door handle what they looked up Mrs. you Dave Hansen says yeah I nieces Paul Newman, Texas politics is nice is Jesus do we wait Nice is yeah kind on a salon on any apologize. I sitting alone on no promises. What topics is what I got some your art director with me in a couple movie guy said guys and they want to come in and take a look at a hockey players apartment we want to see what it looks like the money for command.

Nice is all I got no problem as long as you let me go back to bed in understand my bedroom. He can do it every Alonso and he said before I went nieces and will be quiet.

We just want to look around and take some pictures and some Polaroids and and then he says that eight days again beer to fridges for shallow topics of all the race is not a silly nonelected. Maybe crack a beer and sit down and watch a race of the case is now no problem drink as much as you want, TVs and ergo 4001st meeting of Paul which shows us that very good friends. That move is a disgrace. It doesn't portray hockey and then of course you hear the players saying at the absolutely right. You know it's it's the way it is no is a little satirical about this was short-lived.

It didn't bother us exactly and we would have more fun than anything because now we were going to we going to read is the plan hockey game and use Dallas as an example ago I went in the Dallas or they hated me and I always get booed in warm-ups in this and Ansell typically skate around the world's one time and hearing the bone in a finer lookout. This entire section of fans up there with the glasses and the fake nose and holding the trust on cheese booster club analysis hilarious that everybody stand have a good time with it at face-off against and against an opponent that would fight all the time. A look at me and I look at him he should say buy a soda after the game. It was the one that I think of, mostly as Cisco and Ebert on the David Letterman show and I think the question was someone like David to Siskel and Ebert. Is there ever a movie that you watched critiqued and then later on you kinda went back and realize you made a mistake on and they said absolutely slapshot cases when we first saw slapshot and we gave it a thumbs down.

Later on, looked at it closely and realizing all what a great film that was and now it's historically always in the top 10 best sports movies of all time and thanks to Greg Hendler.

As always, for finding this and doing the work he always does for us in the producing and editing front and by the way again. If you have not seen slapshot watch it with the family.

I mean, it is just great family entertainment and you will laugh and then you'll just keep laughing.

You don't have to know hockey the love slapshot Dave Hansen story, the story of one of America's great sports movies here in our American stores and we returned to our American stories mixed story from Steve Snyder, author of a fantastic book jot down the true story of Pilate, I would Snyder and the crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth today. Steve shares with us the story of survival. Termination in America's efforts to beat back Nazi Germany from the sky. Let's get into the story dear Steve combat crewmen in the eighth Air Force was the most hazardous, dangerous duty assignment United States military during World War II 26,000 men were killed more than the entire Marine Corps fighting in the Pacific and another 20,000 men became prisoners of war. After their bombers were knocked out of the sky by either German fighters are antiaircraft fire and it was dangerous from the time they took off to the time they land back then, there was no air traffic control.

There is no radar using the weather was soft in it was all based on visual sites you can see anything until you got above the cloud layer so meter collisions were not an uncommon none trying to form up and they had to face the elements of these claims were pressurized back stands above 10,000 feet you have to go on oxygen role should pass out in a couple minutes and could die.

Plus it was so cold at the altitudes the rooflines -40 to 60° below zero. So frostbite was a huge problem when they got close to the target, they would run into antiaircraft fire or flak flak was the chairman abbreviation for the German word for aircraft defense can anyone they made it back to England. They faced many dangers again. The weather could be lousy, overcast and socked in. We could even find their basis could have planes that had crewmen that had been killed or seriously injured men who needed immediate medical attention. These bombers could be running at a gas think it's have suffered a lot of battle damage engines out landing gear that wouldn't come down so it was asked especially bad in the early years of the war 1942 in 1943, even though they implement an admission limited 25 the spring of 43 statistically impossible to complete 25 missions in 1943 the average note number of missions flown was only six before being shot down and actually culminated in the fall of 1940. Let's referred to as black week. They lost hundred 40 planes. That's almost 1500 men and four missions. The worst day was black Thursday the second 20 for admission on October 14, 291 B-17s were sent in 60 of them were sent jot down and was in and tell the P 47 thunderbolt so were added that that these confirmations finally had fighter plane ticket escort of all the way to the target and back again like like most World War II veterans pretty humble guy about it. We didn't talk a lot about it so I don't think most people except for the immediate family and friends, members of his church really knew that he was in the eighth Air Force.

He was a B-17 pilot shot down my dad and I had a great relationship. He was a very loving father and dedicated father. He was a tough guy, my two sisters and I we always kinda compared them to John Wayne. He was that kind of guy was 6 foot three was a big guy was no-nonsense guy at the disciplinarian.

It was black or white.

There was no gray areas without Christian had very strong morals but he didn't talk a lot about the war. 90 the basics when I was growing up. 90 was a B-17 pilot. He was stationed in Europe with the eighth Air Force's claim was named Susan Ruth. After my older sister was one year old at the time that he went overseas and then he was shot down over Belgium and he was missing in action for seven months was until 1989.

My dad finally started talking a lot lot about the war 1989 August, the Belgium American foundation in Belgium directed a memorial to my dad and his crew with my dad in the three other crew members were still living at the time went over for the dedication and there he was reunited with all these Belgian people that hid them during the war revisited these places where he was hit and that brought it all back and after that he started talking a lot about it. 19.1 US most the people in the in the in the US were against getting into a war that was brewing in Europe they didn't want to get dragged into another conflict and in involving the European nations, like they did in World War I. So there was strong sentiment about staying out of that of the conflict. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, then the US is very provincial. There is no TV reality of things by radio. You didn't get much news about things are happening other parts of the world so that was a huge shock when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and made the general public had no feeling there belief that that could happen and they were country was in total shock when it did happen. My mother at the time she was really scared. My dad was up and was stationed at Fort Lewis Washington at the time and my mother decided to go up and visit them over Christmas that year after bombing the future was very uncertain and that's what she got pregnant. Nine months later, Susan. Susan Ruth was the only reason that he went into the Air Force because you had a new bride baby on the way and he didn't think he could support them very well on a private span the Army so that's why he volunteered to join the Air Force where he could make more money, especially if he could make it to pilot training.

Become an officer. That's the only reason he really went into the Air Force rather than staying in the Army, but it was the decision tree was really rough. 40% of the cadets that entered pilot training washed out. It was it was rigorous during the primary training that he was really unhappy just being a newlywed and away from his bride and away from his little baby daughter.

He was really lonely and he didn't care about training really are the war. All he could think about us being away from my mother gradually that past and then it kind of became exciting flying in airplanes and getting ready to gear up fight in the war so it it became an adventure when they were assigned overseas in the European theater of operations. My dad and his crew. The after Dalhart, Texas. They went to Scott Field in Illinois when they were given a brand-new B-17 to fly over to England B-17 had a 10 man crew of four officers first pilot and copilot navigator and bombardier, but that there were only three of the crew were married at the time my dad was the only crewmember to have a child and so the crew came together the four officers in the six enlisted men that would be a good name for the plane and after the pilots daughter.

That's how it was became the Susan Ruth and even listening to Steve Snyder tell the story of the eighth Air Force in which his father served 26,000 men were killed in the eighth Air Force more than all of the US Marines killed in the Pacific. This was hazardous duty.

When we come back more Steve Snyder telling the story of his dad and more shot down is his book we continue with it here in our American story, and we returned to our American stories in our story. Snyder, author of shot down. Let's pick up we last left off for admission on February 8, 1944 Frankfurt, Germany the night before the crew. My dad copilot navigator and bombardier spent the night at the falcon pub and they retied went on they said they had hangovers. The next morning, but getting up to 10,000 feet going on that pure oxygen sobered and right up but it was a beautiful day to fly my dad said it was clear blue sky visibility when it was great. They went to the bomb run and they drop their bombs successfully. But during the bomb run their bomb bay doors were hit by flak and he couldn't get them back up. As result that caused the Dragon. The plane, they lost airspeed and they fell behind the bomber formation heading back places in England and they were singled out by two German flock wolf 190 fighters like lions or wolves coming down on prey. They swooped in attack Susan Ruth all of a sudden everything just blows up oxygen tanks in the cockpit edge fire. My dad actually was knocked out for a brief period of time came to know he's frightened he looks over George Ike is copilot in shock. He's motionless. He's frozen so scared. Six enlisted men roll behind the bomb bay so he doesn't know what's going on there so I he has the other guys bailout tapping the commander of the crew. He's the last one to bail out of the plane have to remember that none of these guys bailed out of the plane before but my dad's coming down and he could make out objects on the ground, trees and building so he pulls his ripcord and he comes down innocent trees in despair, she got hung up on some branches dangling 20 feet off the ground and couldn't get down. Fortunately for him, a couple young Belgian men Andre Franken and removed her van came to his rescue before the Germans got there they saw his plight, went back to the farmhouse got a ladder and a rope help down three security the early afternoon, so they told him to stay put and hide till night time. I thought it was too dangerous to try to move in daylight German patrols, common area that night he came back and got them van farmhouse. He had some minor shrapnel wounds in his left leg. The woman of the house. Ramon's mother treated his wounds. He only stayed there one night and they thought it was too dangerous for him to stay there any longer than that with those German patrols the area so that second night Belgian customs officer molecule can came in and tandem bicycle take my dad to a safer location of the Belgian people hid my dad other members of his crew any downed airmen for that matter were unbelievably brave people they rest not only their lives but the lives of their family and friends because of the Belgian secret police, the Gestapo found out about it and be arrested and tortured neither sent to a concentration camp shot there unbelievably strong people.

From there he was moved from place to place to place and how long he stated any given location dependent on how brave the people were living there and hug dangers that Belgian underground thought it was for him to stay there. You might spend one night he might spend six weeks. My dad got tired of hiding. Word came that the allies had landed at Normandy on D-Day, June 6, and he decided to get back in the fight and he decided to join the French resistance. He felt there were US men out there dying fighting and dying to win the war and he felt it was his duty to get back into the fight. His Belgian helpers tried to talk him out of it because it was so dangerous he could be killed fighting against the Germans.

If the Germans captured and he would've been shot on the spot as a terrorist but he said will that be enough to find if you want help me I'll just go by myself so that whenever another one of his helpers any cools escorted and they rode bicycles over the border into France to hook up with a unit of the French resistance French resistance was called the Mackie McKee and they were made up of small independent ragtag guerrilla groups all across France.

Their job was to her mission was to harass the Germans they would sanitize railroad lines disrupt communications, assassinate German officers attack convoys Mackie group. My dad joined with was led by French Lieut. Wade escape from a German prisoner of war camp. They stayed in a farmhouse in the lower zone.

Sonia France, just across the border. Seven months after being shot down.

Word came that there were US troops in Nearby Villages Trl. in France on September 2, 1944. My dad walked into town and the town square, walked up to Army major, actually was an element of Patton's third Army identified himself interrogated to make sure he was who he said he was and then he caught a ride on a convoy taking German prisoners to Paris and hopped on a transport from Paris back to England went back to his base race in a telegram to my mother, Western Union telegram saying fit as a fiddle honey think the money that he had all that backpay come fly with the crew made it home five and did not to the crew were killed in the plane.

Three of the crew. Job usually scatter Richard Daniels bombardier and Roy Hulbert flight engineer were picked up immediately after the bailed out a Richard Daniels and Job usual had extremely serious injuries. They all three became prisoners of war, but will be usual and Richard Daniels were repatriated back to the US before the war ended because of the seriousness of their wounds.

One other crewman.

The tailgunner Bill Schlenker. He was also hidden. Missing in action for seven months and invaded captured. But unlike my dad moved from place to place to place and then joining the French resistance. Bill Schlenker stayed with one place the entire time the other three members of the crew, George Ike, the copilot Robert Bettinger, navigator John Penn dropped another way, scatter, they evaded capture for a couple months they were hiding in a makeshift hut in the woods just outside of she may Belgian collaborator ratted him out to the Germans. They took him in at the Schoemaker schoolhouse is still there today interrogated him and drove back out in the woods and murdered all eight of them so there's tragedy and triumph in the story involving the Belgian people in the underground and members of my dad's crew and other eight Air Force B-17 cruise of all the people that are involved in that shot down story.

The only person who still alive is Hunsberger fluff upon it that shot down my dad's claim was a thrill finding hindsight. During my research, my wife Glenda said what you try to find the German pilot that shot down. I'm thinking now she's naïve she has no idea what she's talking about tequila same like a good enough like a good husband I did was she told me to do and I found Hunsberger and that the man of Michael Mann because his name and that Belgian would contacted me was a blue fluffy historian written a number of books about the Luftwaffe to Hans and he asked Hans if I could contact him to talk to them which concept okay but unfortunately my dad died in 2007, so no bite. My dad never met him. World War II was the defining moment in my dad's life and at one point in time Hans passed my dad's path crossed and so Hans is a part of my dad's life a part of his part of the story in 1988 the Belgium American foundation, Delta Memorial Village of monsoon Amber. She's in asked him if he would come to the dedication ceremonies for this memorial in my dad and my mom were talking about it goes. You know, I don't know. I don't even know this guy just get a letter from out of the blue and there they were debating whether not going or not.

Then Paul Delehanty set up a second letter in this one.

It had the program for the event which listed my dad is the keynote speaker so my dad says that much. My well I guess I guess we gotta go now. I probably wouldn't have written the book. If it wasn't for him to build gentlemen, Dr. Paul Delehanty and shock below. During the war. They were young boys and greatly affected by it. They saw firsthand the atrocities committed by the Nazis against their family and their friends later in life he became local historians and they interviewed all these Belgian people and members of the Belgium underground about events that took place involving my dad and his crew. They documented their test and they keep me unbelievably detailed information about events that took place involving my dad's crew that would've been lost forever without their dedicated research.

So I owe them a huge debt and we owe him a huge debt as well.

Special thanks to Monty Montgomery and to Jim Watkins for putting the story together and also for Steve Snyder writing this book about his father. The book is shut down. True story of pilot Howard Snyder in the crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth historian Steve Snyder's dad, a love story between father and son between troops and pilots and aviators in the end the love story of our American GIs, many of them paying the ultimate price to defend freedom against the Nazi menace's story here on our American story