SABATON - No Bullets Fly with Animated Video this time (Reaction!)

[@Yarnhub]

Great reaction. Thanks !

[@emiliajojo5703]

We all have to thank you guys.amazing.❤

[@jovitatheren-stigler304]

Thank you for your reaction and kind words

[@catadoxas]

Very kind and brave choice from your father. I hope you had fun at the Sabaton concert

[@jovitatheren-stigler304]

@@catadoxas Yes, thank you . the concert was fabulous. We attend every year they are in our city

[@williamthomas7509]

I hope you know what your father did was well beyond any words can describe. The absolute definition of a HERO. I first heard the story years ago and as I read the book I cried many times. Tears of joy at the humanity of your father. Even now years later it brings me to tears and humbles me knowing that your father exemplified what humans should be. I love it that you connected with the band and continue to see them when you can. I wish you and your family a Wonderful Christmas and New Year.

[@jovitatheren-stigler304]

Thank you - my best to you and yours

[@grindcorejoe6661]

As I heared the Crew of the "Ye Old Pub" made a Party for Franz Stiegler, together with their Children and Childrens-Children. I think a 6 year old Girl standing before you and saying "Thank you for not killing my Grandpa" is worth more than all the Medals in the World. Greetings from Germany

[@sirboomsalot4902]

Franz Stigler was later made an honorary member of Charlie’s bomb group and invited to their reunions. Stigler expressed to Charlie that he didn’t feel like he belonged there, when Charlie pointed to a group of younger people that were there and said “Those people wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for what you did”. They were the children and grandchildren of Charlie and his crew.

[@gonesquatchingaming3850]

Crying is the proper reaction to this. It is not un-masculine to cry, especially in the regards to stories like this that show the most beautiful points of humanity.

[@gryphonosiris2577]

Not crying, or at least being deeply moved to this is an unnatural act.

[@MSTavares]

I can't argue with that

[@VerchielxKanda]

Not only did Franz escort them to safety, he also flew close enough to the B17 so that ground weapons couldn't fire, for fear of hitting him, too. What a guy!! Their story was also placed in a book called A Higher Call by Adam Makos. The book has letters back and forth between them and photos. =)

[@marinamucic908]

NOW you know why we wanted you to see this version 😀One of the most beautiful stories Sabaton has ever told!

[@jregns]

Great reaction! I’m glad you revisited this version again. Check out ”En livstid i krig” in Swedish, live from Gothenburg with [captions on], and have a tissue ready, next. Also ”Night witches”, animated story version.

[@fredriknilsson6042]

Yes en livstid i krig with captions on

[@jerryclark9018]

when were good to someone .we dont know how many generation we are impacting

[@MetalZoned]

Thanks dude for listening to the commenters! 👍

[@Zabiru-]

Some details that I recall from what I know of the story: 1. The little wiggle Franz plane does when he first comes up beside them can arguably be interpreted as the wiggle of "hey I'm a friend" which I believe is a sign among pilots. You can sometimes hear of it and/or see it if a passenger plane gets a military Fighter Escort for whatever reason. I'm pretty sure it is also a way of non-verbal visual communication to get the other pilot's attention if Radio is not an option due to malfunctioning equipment or for any other reasons why radio communication might not possible. 2. The waving Franz does that Charlie shakes his head at is him, at first, signaling them to turn north towards Sweden to land there and be interned until the end of the war rather than risking to pass the AAA-guns at the Atlantic wall and cross the British Channel and attempt to get back to Britain. When they did not take his advice he chose to escort them instead. 3. Franz credited his decision, at least in part, to not fire upon Ye Olde Pub with what he was taught during his training to be a fighter pilot. The specific quote/lesson from Franz's instructor that made him spare the B17 and it's crew had to with never firing on a pilot that had bailed out and was in a Parachute. I believe the quote mentioned was "If I ever hear about any of you firing on a pilot that has bailed out of his aircraft and is descending in a parachute I will shoot you myself." Or something to that effect. In part this was because it is a cowardly downright evil thing to do - essentially executing a defenseless enemy combatant - and in part because if it became known that one side was doing this so it would lead to similar acts by the other in retaliation, and no one wanted that. No matter how they felt about the people on the other side of the conflict. 4. He said later that he viewed them in their damaged and harmless state much as a pilot in a parachute and so he could not bring himself to fire on them. He also said that he intended to use a standard tactic of approaching from slightly below and firing upwards into the bottom of the plane, but as he got closer he noticed the twin 50-cal. machine-gun barrels at the rear of the plane simply hanging down and no attempt was seemingly made to fire on him as he approached. He was puzzled by this and decided to investigate further and in doing so he noticed all of the combat damage and the dead tail gunner as well as the injured crewmen visible through the holes in the fuselage. Despite the fact that he would have automatically received the Knights Cross if he had gotten another confirmed kill on a B17 to his name - if I recall correctly he had shot down at least 2 others fairly recently prior to this incident happening - he then elected to escort them instead to hopefully prevent them from being targeted and shot down by German AAA-batteries. There are a few other things to the story too, but this comment is long enough already. I encourage anyone intrigued by this remarkable story to look into it further for themselves. Great reaction Sebs :)

[@hnafe6239]

He had 22 confirmed b17 kills, 2 of them on that same day. and needed one more kill as stated above. He stated that he lost the appetite for the Cross after the incident and never recieved it

[@andrewludwig9251]

NOW YOU KNOW WHY WE WANTED YOU TO WATCH THIS VERSION! It's all about the story!

[@awesomelana7227]

I agree, check out “En livstid i krig”. It’s a live performance in Swedish but you don’t need to understand to appreciate the song. I think there might even be a version with English subtitles.

[@richardjosephus6802]

There is different lyrics.

[@petermajland9744]

Franz Stigler explained in on of the interviews, that his former Squadron Leader told every Pilot, that if he will ever gets aware that one of his Pilots shoots at Parachutes, he will shoot the one himself. Stigler saw the hardly flying B-17 as their Parachute the get out alive

[@mrlizardtx]

There are also animated story videos for Night Witches (recommended) and Christmas Truce (also good but not as emotional as the live action video). Enjoy your journey down the Sabaton rabbit hole.

[@gryphonosiris2577]

The name of the factory they were bombing is "Focke-Wulf", which is the name of the company that made the FW-190 fighter, and other aircraft. Franz Stiegler is a true Knight of the old code.

[@vlinder6329]

What a great response my friend. SABATON is my history book. This was a fantastic real story I always cry 😢 SABATON IS AMAZING 💥 Thank You so much Love ❤️ from the Netherlands 🇳🇱

[@kenichiotaku3693]

You can also read the book A Higher Call which tells the stories of both people individually as well as detailing this wholesome incident.

[@an0ana]

Thanks for the reaction! I can't listen to this without getting emotional

As others have before me, I can warmly recommend the animated video for Night Witches. But then also the live video from the great tour. The intro of that one is just incredible.

[@kingsnake8992]

Thank you so much for letting us watch you react to this version. It's one of my favourite Sabaton songs, and one of my favourite songs to see people react to

[@garyedwardgray7549]

A lot of folks who don’t know the full story don’t get the part where Stigler pointed and they shook their heads “no”. That’s an actual thing that happened. Originally, Stigler wanted them to land. He was still being merciful, not shooting them down, but he wanted them to land in German territory. It wasn’t any evil intent on his part. He’s obviously supremely merciful. He was just trying to get the plane on the ground. Brown wasn’t willing to become a POW, so he insisted on going on back home. Stigler, amazingly, this is why I’m trying to be clear that I’m not being negative about Stigler trying to get him to land, was just like… “ok, on we go”. And once they were over the North Sea and British Channel, where Brits had control, Stigler broke off so HE wouldn’t be the one shot down. Such and amazing story. I’m so glad they met back up later in life.

[@merryrose6788]

You are right about Stigler not thinking the plane would make it back, so was advising them to land. Other posters have indicated that Stigler was pointing to Sweden, neutral territory, but Charlie Brown thought Stigler was pointing at Germany, and thus refused. Otherwise, great post you wrote!

[@garyedwardgray7549]

@@merryrose6788 thanks for bothering to read my too long post. I *try* my best not to post b.s., and I had heard that somewhere which I believe was reliable. And you actually see it in the video, with Stigler pointing and Brown shaking his head, “no”. I think some might think that takes away from Stigler, since his original intent was to basically turn Brown and the crew into POWs. I disagree. This only further ratcheted up the pressure on Franz. He could’ve responded negatively, pulled up behind them where they were defenseless, and taken them out. Instead, he had to make an “in the moment” decision. This only makes it more impressive to me. This is the enemy in the heat of war. Stigler sees that they’re just trying to limp home. And his seat of the pants decision is to not only let them, but help them by preventing AAC fire. To me, Franz is only elevated further due to this… because his mercy and altruism was not thought out. It was reflexive. That’s why I think it elevates him even further. Such spur of the moment decisions reveal one’s character. If given time to think about it, you could justify either choice. Instead, this decision revealed Franz Stigler’s character. If anything, knowing these fine details only makes the story better and paints Stigler’s mercy in an even more generous light.

[@merryrose6788]

​@@garyedwardgray7549 You did not post bs:)You are spot on. The confusion seems to be because he pointed out Germany and Sweden. Stigler was first pointing to land in Germany! I'd read so many posts saying Sweden, that I read more, and found an interview with Stigler "The Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown Incident." At about 4:46 in the 11:26 video, the interviewer states "...he tried to get the B-17 to surrender over Germany but no response so he escorted the bomber out over the North Sea and pointed toward Sweden..." All your comments about his character are so insightful. As for landing in Germany and going to a POW camp, I'm no expert, but had read that the POW air flyers camp(s) were administered by Luftwaffe, and thus not terrible conditions (other than being POW). Hogan's Heroes was criticized for making humor for concentration camps. But as Robert Clary, who played Frenchman Lebeau, wrote in his autobiograohy, From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes, a POW camp was protected by the Geneva Convention. Concentration camps were not. So, even if Charlie Brown had landed in Germany, the chances are very good that he and his crew would have been treated according to the Geneva Convention.

[@edwardnelson9807]

if it makes you feel better at all. I've seen this video 100 times and still have the same reaction as you did. then I get mad that a swedish metal band had to to me this story

[@seanaries4323]

Haha love this! So glad you came back and checked it out again

[@chriso6719]

Glad you decided to check this out, I see you are as well. Yarnhub did a great job animating this and helping to tell the story. They also did an animated story video for Sabaton's 'Night Witches' (WWII Russian all female night bomber regiment). Highly recommended also.

[@ashleybingham3822]

Only just started listening to this band in the last year, This was a fascinating story and just left me a sobbing mess after finding out these two men were able to connect with each other and meet up 🥹.

[@Flokarl1]

Great reaction !!!!!!

[@kathleenguth2193]

Sabaton can hit home. Thanks for your reaction.

[@Nem01]

Really enjoyed your honest reaction.

[@deamonbear]

The sad part was that after Franz and Charlies story was first released. People actually sent death threats to Franz JUST because he was a German pilot. As well as Germans who accused him of being a traitor. Charlie just had a friend who was precocious to him.

[@torn83gaming19]

I highly recommend reading the book about the German pilot's life. Charlie Brown refused to be interviewed by the author untill the author had gone and talked to the German pilot and found out his story.

[@sirboomsalot4902]

A Higher Call?

[@sagebooker]

Rhooo, I've cried again ! Thanks to try the animated one !

[@danielhjelmberg1173]

Thats how we humans are, we are often good, but we can have very dark thoughts! Often we just think and do not cary out what we think. We want tho do good, but are often doing bad things.

[@mmxconect]

Sabaton is amazing!!! Great reaction

[@Northman-from-the-North]

Great reaction, Sabaton are masters in storytelling.

[@samnemeth-smyth6109]

Stigler once said his old squadron commander had told them "If I see or hear of anyone of you shooting at a man in a parachute, I will kill you myself." The idea being that a man parachuting out of a plane is helpless and can't defend himself. Stigler saw Ye Olde Pub as being the same as a guy parachuting in the state it was in.

[@drigerdranzer7514]

Oh I understand what sound funny to you. When they said the Fokker Wolf plant. It's easy to hear something else then Fokker there.😉

[@ninalindstrom4050]

If this one hit you, you really need to watch En Livstid I Krig. The live version. Its in Swedish but the subtiles are very good.

[@godfatherofbloedniss]

If you liked this one, i am sure you will love the Last Battle too, great story

[@besogeldiashvili7825]

Watch "night witches"

[@M4tti87]

Franz killed several people before and shot down planes that day. Johnny bombed german citys and civilians a few minutes before they got hit. Thats the moral of the war story. It doesnt mean you have to hate a person. You can hate the whole situation, but not a single person. They both did what they were told to do.

[@metalcrusader6666]

Could you checkout HammerFall - Hammer of Dawn they are a Swedish band formed in 1993, Very old school and melodic! really recommend it

[@StevenMRA]

Now you see why folks wanted you to see the whole history video - changes your entire view of the story and song, no?

[@jadu79]

Did you know that almost every song Sabaton has has a background for it on their second channel Sabaton History here is the link to it about this song kzbin.info/www/bejne/goS4aHubmbeJfbs You should check out their videos for all the songs you listen to, they go through the inspiration for the songs and it can be educational

[@soheilnazari4553]

Bro check out the latest music video they released for "Stormtroopers" It's fire man !!!

[@generichardson4771]

checkout devil dogs not the lyric version there is a historical version out there if you want i can add the link kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHvYg2msd7J9bdU

[@enen1220]

En livstid i krig