On May 28, 1944 the B17 War Eagle crash landed 90 miles east of Treves, Germany after engine trouble. The crew included:

Pilot: 2nd Lt. Julius Herrick
Co-pilot: 2nd Lt. Lloyd H. Saunders, Jr.
Navigator: 2nd Lt. Leon W. Lordell
Bombadier: 2nd Lt. Herbert Borax
Radio Operator: S/Sgt William S. Schwartz
Top Turret Gunner: T/Sgt. Charles Gillespie
Ball Turrett: Sgt. Orval R. Busby
Tail Gunner: Sgt. John C. Napier
Waist Gunner: Sgt. Daniel E. Dunbar
Waist Gunner: Sgt. Benjamin Ragan Norris

All of the crew were taken prisoners by the Germans. except for waist gunners Benjamin R. Norris and Daniel Dunbar who managed to escape. They walked 300 miles to Allied France. They were picked up by the French Resistance and fought with them until the area was liberated by the US 4th Armored Division.

A division of the Hilter Youth was stationed close to the crash site. One of these youths photographed the B17. The photographs remarkably survived the war and in time were able to be shared by a descendant of the man who took them.