Gerald Koty was the radio operator on B-17 44-6555 based in Foggia, Italy. His plane was shot down on his 21st mission after it took several direct hits of flak over its target some 70 miles southeast of Berlin on March 15, 1945 (this mission was the longest sortie ever flown by the 15th Air Force during the war).



Paul Globus, Gerald Koty's nephew, recalls: "After my uncle's B-17 was hit by flak on the March 15th sortie, it had to leave the formation. They were near the Russian lines so they headed in that direction with the intention of bailing out over Russia. But after assessing the situation, the pilot, Walter Griffith, decided it would be better to try to reach a partisan-held field in Yugoslavia and to bail out there.



"The aircraft began losing altitude and to lighten the ship, the crew tossed out everything that wasn't bolted down, including their ammunition. Almost immediately, they were set upon by a German fighter. Only two of their 13 guns were functional at this point, which made the situation tense. As the fighter made several dangerous passes, guns blazing, the crippled B-17 dove for cover in the clouds. Unfortunately, this maneuver blinded the navigator and they lost their way. Their only option was to jump. All ten crew members got out, landing somewhere in Hungary.



"The airmen were quickly captured but because this was near the end of the war, they spent only a short time in a POW camp. Within days of their capture and imprisonment, they were forced, along with hundreds of other POWs, to march in a westerly direction, away from the advancing Russian army. The German guards were pretty nervous about being overtaken by the Russians and, according to my uncle, were shooting anyone who couldn't keep up (this could have been my uncle's fate since he had developed a large blister on the bottom of one foot and was unable to walk; two of his friends selflessly decided to carry him, which they did for many miles).



"After several weeks, the POWs marched directly into the lines of the American 7th Army, which had been advancing across Europe in the opposite direction. My uncle said that the men cried like babies when they finally set eyes on the American tanks and infantrymen -- liberation at last. He said it was one of the happiest days of his life up to that moment.



"Gerald Koty died of prostate cancer in Southern California in 1996 at the age of 77 but he remains a great hero to me. Along with all of the brave men and women who served in World War Two, he deserves to be remembered and honored for the part he played in defeating the Nazis and making the world a better place for us all.



"An interesting side note about this adventure is that my uncle and the other members of his crew had never parachuted out of an airplane before that fateful day in March 1945. Their so-called training had been minimal in that they barely knew how to strap themselves into their parachutes. Yet they somehow found the courage to do what they had to do to survive.



"My uncle, who was an exceptionally honest, sincere and humble man, admitted to me that when he let himself fall out of the bomb-bay doors of his crippled B-17, yanking the ripcord almost before he was clear of the aircraft, he was about as scared as he had ever been in his life, either before or since. That admission made me love him all the more."



Awards: AM (OLC), POW, WWII Victory, EAME.