by Commander | May 31, 2024
Lt. Col. Ed Cottrell, USAF (Ret.), P-47 pilot, will talk about his recent meeting with a German Me 109 pilot. In 1944, these two pilots had the historic missions to destroy each other’s planes—and perhaps lives–during the Battle of the Bulge. Age 102,...
by Janis | May 18, 2024 | News
I was waiting for the bullets “I was waiting for the bullets,” is WWII P-47 pilot Ed Cottrell’s description of being surrounded by German Me 109s during the Battle of the Bulge. That story is told in an oil painting commissioned by Valor Studios of Naples, Florida. A...
by John Luzena | Apr 18, 2024 | News
We’ll Never Be Enemies Again “We are now friends. We’ll never be enemies again.” These are the words of WWII fighter pilot Ed Cottrell after his recent visit to Germany to meet German fighter pilot Karl-Heinz Bosse. On Saturday, April 13, The Veterans History Museum...
by Janis | Mar 13, 2024 | Articles, Artifacts
Battle of the Bulge On December 17, 1944, the second day of the Battle of the Bulge, American P-47 pilot Ed Cottrell’s engine was shot up. In the same battle, German pilot Karl-Heinz Bosse’s Messerschmadt 109 was shot down. Cottrell steered to his base and...
by Janis | Sep 30, 2023 | Living Histories
The Battle of Okinawa He served as Rifleman in the 184th Rgt., fighting in the last battle of World War II, the Battle of Okinawa. Brevard resident James Milton Fletcher served in the U.S. Army Reserves from June 6, 1944 to December 1956. He was serving in Okinawa...
