Warbird Information Exchange

Just received this from a WWII B-17 pilot, he was a straggler twice and made it!

The Straggler

I saw a fortress knocked out of its group
On fire and in despair
With Nazi fighters surrounding her,
As she flew alone back there.
The Messerschmitts came barreling thru,
Throwing a hail of lead
At the crippled Fort that wouldn’t quit
Though two of its engines were dead.
But a couple of props kept straining away
And her guns were blazing too
As she stayed in the air in that hell back there
And fought like fortresses do
Four times a fighter belched fire and smoke
Four times a fighter went down
And the Fortress kept on winging home
And the nerve of the crew stayed sound
But time after time, the fighters came
And attacked the lagging plane
I knew she couldn’t last for long
And my heart was touched with pain
But the gunners fought a bitter fight
But now the guns were still
And a fighter, seeing the time was ripe
Came in for the kill.
A stream of lead ripped into a tank
And the Fort exploded in two
And somewhere the angels prepared a place
For a weary Fortress crew.