The American WWII Ace Who Shot Down 7 German, 1 Italian, 1 Japanese, And 1 American Plane!

Thanks for sharing a very interesting story SSG (Join to see). The fact that 1st Lieutenant Louis Edward Curdes achieved ace status in his first month of flying the P-38 is amazing as he downed ME-1-09s and other planes. His capture just prior to Italy switching sides was fortuitous for him but disastrous for many Italian soldiers.
His experience with the P-51 in the Pacific region showed skill and caution as he engaged the USA C-47 Skytrain – a “Jungle Skipper” which did not respond to his radio calls and tried to land on a Japanese airfield. Thankfully he knocked the plane down into the ocean with no casualties and he eventually married one of the passengers who was a nurse named Valorie whom he had dated the night before he shot down the plane.
Kudos to Louis Edward & Valorie Curdes!
FYI I thought you might be interested COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) CW5 Charlie Poulton SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt (Join to see) TSgt Joe C. SGT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT Forrest Stewart SGT Robert Hawks SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM

SSG (Join to see) shooting down that American Plane probably saved the lives of at least some of the passengers. Japanese Airfield, following an American Raid, with the Japanese not known for their kindness in the treatment of prisoners? I can imagine that had that plane succeeded in reaching the Japanese strip, they would have instantly regretted it. I will say that had he destroyed the plane in mid air, it would have been a kinder fate than landing on that Japanese airfield.

Thanks for sharing SSG (Join to see) and LTC Stephen F.. It seems as if his heroism and flying skills warranted a higher decoration than the DFC.