The Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident occurred on 20 December 1943, after a successful bomb run on Bremen, 2nd Lt. Charles "Charlie" Brown's B-17F Flying Fortress Ye Olde Pub of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was severely damaged by German fighters, and had fallen out of formation, left behind by other bombers with only a few engines running. Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler was on the ground, repairing a bullet lodged in his radiator when Brown's aircraft flew low nearby his airfield, Stigler seeing this and seeing it as an opportunity to score the last kill of a bomber kill award. When he intercepted the bomber, he had the opportunity to shoot down the crippled bomber but did not do so, and instead escorted it over and past German-occupied territory so as to protect it. The American bomber attempted to fire upon Stigler with the roof mounted turret under Brown's request, but failed to do so as Stigler descended. When they left occupied coasts, Stigler saluted Brown from the left side of the aircraft and flew back home. After an extensive search by Brown, the two pilots met each other 50 years later and developed a friendship that lasted until Stigler's death in March 2008. Brown died only a few months later, in November of the same year.