When Enemies are Friends

More than 56 years ago Lou Lovesky was on a bomb run over Berlin when his B-24, “Terry and the Pirates,” was fatally damaged by flak. Then he collided with another B-24 and both aircraft crashed over Berlin with 13 crew members KIA. Seven were taken prisoner and liberated by General Patton on April 2, 1945, over a year later.

Harry Schuster who was a 16 year-old in a Berlin Anti-Aircraft battery on March 22, 1944 allegedly shot down Lovesky’s B-24. Schuster said the “Terry” came down so close to the Flak Battery, they all had to duck. He then left his post to take pictures of the nearby wreckage.

On a vacation in Florida, Schuster made inquiries about survivors of the “Terry.” A friend of a friend contacted “Barky” Hovespian, former President of the 466th Bomb Group Association, of which Lovesky was a member. The two “enemies” met in June, 2000.

from the
Ex-POW Bulletin