"One of the fliers who made it back from Pilsen [final 8th A.F. combat mission of the War] defined the uncrushable spirit of the air force that helped bring Germany to ruin. Twenty-seven-year-old Lt. Col. Immanuel 'Manny' Klette, son of a Lutheran minister who had emigrated from Germany, had arrived in England in early 1943, when an American bomber crewman's life expectancy was fifteen missions. He flew against the toughest targets - St. Nazaire, Vegesack, and Schweinfurt -- and was wounded by flak on one mission and sustained five fractures in a crash landing in England.

When he regained the use of his legs, he joined the 91st Bomb Group at Bassingbourn and took command of one of its radar-equipped Pathfinder squadrons. Although not required to fly, he led his men on every difficult mission, including the big one to Berlin on 3rd February
1945. 'I asked him to stay on the ground more,' said his commanding officer. But he continued to go. I got my dander up and ordered him only to go when his turn to lead came up. He still went. What the hell are you going to do with a man like that?' Manny Klette's trip to Pilsen on 25th April was his ninety-first bombardment raid of the war, a record for the European Theatre."
-- from "Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany" by Donald L. Miller
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He was assigned to Keith Conley crew. Reported to the ETO on 12-Mar-43. On 23-Sep-43 returning from mission to Nantes, France, crashed in B-17 42-3449 while attempting to land at RAF Wing. All crew returned, but 3 seriously injured. On his 25th mission to Villacoublay, France he lost two engines to flak, came back to the base on two, feathered a third engine in the traffic pattern and landed with one prop still turning and with a flat tire. He flew a record 91 combat missions. He later acquired a doctorate in International Relations from Georgetown University and held many Service posts including that of Chief of NATO policy in Southern Europe in 1954.

Awards: DSC, DFC (3 OLC), AM (14 OLC), Croix de Guerre, PH, ACM, WWII Victory, EAME (8 x Battle Stars).