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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, Cottrell resides in Hendersonville.

On December 17, 1944, the second day of the Battle of the Bulge, American P-47 pilot Ed Cottrell’s engine was shot up by a German Messerschmitt. In the same battle on the same day, German pilot Karl-Heinz Bosse’s Messerschmidt 109 was shot down. Cottrell steered to his base and expertly managed a dead-stick landing . Bosse ejected and parachuted down but was seriously injured and hospitalized.

Seventy-nine years later in December 2023, at the site near Bonn, Germany where Bosse’s plane had crashed, these two pilots and former enemies had a four-hour visit all these years later, sharing their stories with the help of a translator.

Lt. Col. Ed Cottrell, USAF (Ret.) will tell the story of meeting his former enemy in December of 2023–two pilots whose historic mission was to destroy each other’s planes—and perhaps lives. Cottrell will share how these former adversaries developed a quick friendship, ending their meeting “forever friends.”

Cottrell will be available to sign a copy of the book We Shall Come Home Victorious, which tells his complete story. Books will be available for purchase ($20) with proceeds going to the 51������ in Brevard.

This FREE program is made possible with funds provided by the Community Foundation of Henderson County through the Richard J. and Betty A. Scott Estate.

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You may also call the Etowah Library: 828-891-6577.