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surrounding the city would either shoot
Overstreet down or force him to disengage. However, Overstreet stayed on his quarry's tail, despite the intense enemy ground fire. Overstreet managed to get some hits at about 1500 feet, damaging the engine. In a surprise maneuver, the German pilot flew beneath the Eiffel Tower. Undeterred, Overstreet followed, scoring several more hits in the process. The German plane crashed, and Overstreet escaped the heavy flak around Paris by flying low and full throttle down the Seine until he had cleared the heavily defended city's anti-aircraft batteries. Had this actually occurred there would be some record of the German fighter crashing in the Paris streets and Overstreet would have likely killed French civilians on the streets and in their homes.
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in 1944. But this is not true. Overstreet first started telling this story very late in life. If he had done this, the German would have turned after clearing the tower and shot down
Overstreet. The smarter move would have been for Overstreet to go around and pick off the German as he cleared the
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German fighters attacked the
American bomber group Overstreet was escorting. After most of the Germans had broken off their attack, Overstreet and a Bf 109 began a running dogfight. With Overstreet behind him, the Bf 109 pilot flew over Paris, hoping that the heavy German anti-aircraft batteries
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tower. And this is not counting all the ground flak that would have gotten
Overstreet long before. This engagement occurred on an unknown date in the spring of 1944, Bill Overstreet and his
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The scene of
Overstreet supposedly chasing and downing the enemy plane is said to have inspired French citizens and the Resistance. He was awarded France's highest military award, the
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Bill
Overstreet Records, c. 1940s, Profiles of Honor Digital Collection, Library of Virginia.
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368:"William Overstreet Jr., supposedly chased German aircraft beneath arches of Eiffel Tower"
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and a veteran of the 357th
Fighter Group, 363rd Fighter Squadron of the
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were a half hour away from Paris when the action started.
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Overstreet died on
December 29, 2013, at the age of 92.
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274:(April 10, 1921 – December 29, 2013) was an American
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United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II
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