"After calmly saying over the radio, ' And if i don't make it, good luck to you ' a 25 year old Texan, pilot of an 8th AF Boeing B-17, gave his life that his crew might live. 1st Lt Loye J Lauraine of Mt Calm TX, ordered his crew to parachute from the flak battered bomber, gripped the shattered controls with his hands and knees until all had leaped to safety and then rode his floundering fortress into the ground."