Warbirds in Review: Shorty Rankin and Gunther Rall

[@carolehall7250]

Shorty Rankin was my dear, sweet Uncle who passed just six years ago. He was great fun!

[@heathergilchrist5149]

Respect and thanks to your uncle for his service. The Greatest Generation.

[@jduff59]

Gunther is impossible not to like. His enemies held him in high esteem. Pilots are the coolest of the cool.

[@AndyP998]

I met him on 2003 on seminar in Finland and got autograph for his book. He told some incredible and sometimes funny stories on seminar that day. A great man and fine man. But there was no mutual respect between russian and german pilots.

[@XLuftWaffleX]

Both of these great patriots and aviators have passed on. RIP Rankin and Rall- may you fly forever in peaceful skies...

[@212th]

Agreed. I hate it when people hate on the Germans. The Luftwaffe wasn't filled with hardcore nazis. Many had flown before the war and they were just normal men. Brave individuals who did their job. Hats off to both of them and every other single pilot who fought through it all and made it.

[@KAIROA]

+Crappy Nappy Me too.....agree 100%. They did their job.....R.I.P. both of them.

[@pkxpanz3r241]

+KilroyTheGreat I Know Only Of Rall, But I Have Seen Him And Rankin In Other Documentaries Talking About The B17s And P51s Over Berlin, I Highly Respect And Somehwat Idiolize These Two Men, May They Rest In Peace.

[@crosstimbers2]

+Crappy Nappy It makes no difference what you think. The pilots of the Luftwaffe enabled Hitler for several years. For that there is no honor.

[@212th]

crosstimbers2 Just because he was in charge didn't mean they were evil genocidal thugs like him. Many had flown before the war.

[@lieugebo805]

This is such a special video I am so grateful to watch. Just unfathomable how special these gentlemen are❤

[@jkarra2334]

I had an honor to meet mr. Rall few years before he passed away.Such a great man and even greater aviator.

[@bosnmatecaddie]

These men were adversaries, flying there birds of prey through the skies hell bent on killing the enemy with extreme prejudice yet respected one another as aviators, and in the end came to a friendship that few could understand, they both live long, prosperous life's, may they both Rest In Peace!

[@lyleholland5580]

What wonderful brave men. Performed their duties and served with distinction.

[@pansnhansn]

R.i.P. Günther Rall

[@rtflone]

Absolutely one of the best WWII docs it has been my privilege to watch. Two outstanding combat pilots..

[@joed.1547]

What amazing lives these two men experienced, and friends in the end. Mad respect for both of them.

[@BelloBudo007]

I love watching and listening to these amazing warriors. The regard they hold for the other is obvious to see.

[@winnieyan76]

"It will bother them till they do their last breath." Thanks for the great video.

[@alien2836]

unbelievable good story

[@MyPlaymaker]

I, as a USAF vet, have much respect for the WW2 German Luftwaffe. I was corresponding with a Jag26 pilot until his death: Otto "Stotto" Stammberger, who received credit for downing a B-17 bomber, "The Big Drip." I became friends with a ball turret gunner in that bomber, Sgt Paul R. Gordon, Reading, PA. Gentlemen all.

[@696969640]

im glad people video these great men so future people can see what class is all about very nice vid

[@luizengrazia5169]

Great men. I have the deepest respect for these patriots.

[@thankgodfordavidgf]

Two good guys united by profession.

[@paulw176]

I listen to ww2 Fighter pilots talk and I feel like a very small person.

[@cabre4]

Was a beatiful thing, see a old fighters between them, now a friends that are speaking about... Gunther is a ACE, always.

[@zebbocaster]

Thank you for posting this wonderful video.

[@Polpiv4tifish]

To think; the man you're fighting could easily become your best friend in different circumstances. Makes war kinda ridiculous doesn't it

[@riesenesel176]

You are right.Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler is a great story too.

[@cttc4132]

Polpiv4tifish Gunther seems like he was a really cool guy. The way he tells the story of losing his thumb and other stories.

[@KAIROA]

+Riesen Esel I know that great story and saw both of them. As a matter of fact I still have it. Another wonderful story of these brave warriors....gentlemen to the end.

[@Hibernicus1968]

Tragic yes, ridiculous no. There was nothing ridiculous about the need to stop the Nazis. Germany was in the grip of an evil regime that perpetrated unimaginable horror, and if ever a war was justified, this one was (from the Allied side that is). But as Gunther Rall showed, the Germans weren't all evil, cartoon villains. Most of the soldiers were ordinary young men who loved their country and answered the call when their country sent them to war. It's tragic that those young men were recruited into such an evil endeavor, and tragic that other young men had to go off to fight them, and sometimes die in doing so, especially as these men, if they met outside the conflict, might well find much in common with each other, and might well become great friends, just as you see with Shorty Rankin and Gunther Rall here.

[@djizzah]

war makes rich people richer, thats all. those bastards make us ordinary folk do their bidding

[@panzerken]

What a beautiful house and area to live in!

[@P61guy61]

Thank you

[@pansyrinx]

r.i.p great man rall...

[@patrickcosgrove2623]

Enjoyed the video, thanks for sharing 👍😊

[@getslimdad]

what an incredible man,

[@CatholicBeardReviews]

they fly in gods squadron now god bless these men for what they did

[@bobbyricigliano2799]

Complete respect for these warriors.

[@212th]

Legends.

[@jeancarton1611]

r.i.p Gunther...

[@schnellguy]

Outstanding!

[@BlueBaron3339]

What was interesting was how players of the world's first massively multiplayer online game - Air Warrior - became such students of history with the strangest of motives: to get better at a computer game. This became a sort of sneak attack of history. The game was such a scrupulous simulation of the aircraft of the period that the more you learned about the actual war, and the pilots who survived to write memoirs and be interviewed, the better you became as a sim pilot and the more you respected the people who did it for real. At every Air Warrior convention in the final years the game was available, a WWII pilot veteran would speak. All were astonished by two things: the respect they were shown and the quality of the questions they were asked. Sadly, those men are gone. Gone too are MMOs based in reality.

[@wirikuta14]

Wonderful.

[@evillain999]

great little docu!

[@adolfofloresdeleon4763]

Y lloro por la accion de gunter ray...

[@jesspace4069]

great videos!

[@egindin]

nice to see a German and a Jewish pilot chatting amicably...

[@mirelamihalic8484]

TWO NO1,R.I.P (HEROS)

[@woodychadwick9834]

Well, these guys are warriors.

[@45cab]

Respect and Salute! RIP

[@caliguladm3719]

that shot of the b 17 in the end its really beutifull

[@Rikki0]

Diego D I got a personal tour of her (Thunderbird) about a week ago at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston. They were doing a preflight and I mentioned that my dad had been a BTG on one in WWII. There was a lady on the preflight team and she asked me if I'd like to go inside. Well yeeeeah! So in we went and I got a lot of great pics inside. Not the regular tour either. She let me crawl in every nook and cranny. Wasn't easy at 64 but I couldn't pass it up. In the movies they look a lot bigger on the inside. You spend more time crawling than walking inside one.

[@Rikki0]

Rikki0 Seen many interviews with Gunther Rall. Even though he and my Dad may have tried to kill each other it's impossible not to like him.

[@mirelamihalic8484]

you are NO1,R.I.P (HERO)

[@sinkosav]

he is no no1....rall have only 272 victories ,no1 of all time was hartman with 357...ace of the aces...yenks pass him to soviets and he spent 10 years in prison...he came home in 1955,and also became jet pilot for new germany...rall is respected cuz his wife save some jews..he escort damaged b17 child killer bomber out of germany,so he not kill lot of yenks and brits,like harman did....he kils mostly soviets...malo citaj knjige...zidoljubac,zato je postao general...

[@gunsaway1]

Awesome

[@maxdragon91]

Respect......to all.........

[@jandeheijde2617]

rip shorty respect

[@mikekelly571]

Great video.

[@adolfofloresdeleon4763]

Fue lo mejor que pudo hacer gnter ray...

[@DocBolle]

Interesting. Rall's airbase - Wunstorf - is the town were I was born and grew up.

[@MyMW3Channel]

Why do we get subtitles for Gunther Rall despite not needing them? We need them instead for everyday Americans.

[@PS-nf3xw]

how many aces are still alive

[@aswartzilla7401]

Stellar...

[@maunten66]

" GRANDES HEROES DE LA II GUERRA MUNDIAL " mis respetos.

[@Greggee100]

Good 4 Gunther!

[@PS-nf3xw]

Shorty where is my thumb....hitting the like button

[@rrudydedogg3779]

There was still a sense of chivalry and honor amongst the Germans, British and Americans. This was not so with the Japanese. As a Vietnam veteran, mercy toward our enemy was rare and they felt the same toward us. How many enlisted POWs came home in 1973? Very, very few.

[@paulyb6458]

Hard men make good timesGood times make soft menSoft men make hard timesHard times make soft men.1944 - 18 year olds sitting in the cockpits of their aircraft at 33,000 feet. 2018 - 18 year olds screaming on social media because the barista is taking too long on their soy latte

[@woodychadwick9834]

These guys are our uncle's, cousins. Much water under the bridge. Time heals.

[@alexjuarez1886]

I would very much like to have a picture autographed of mr.raul in his me-109 how can i get his address ??. Thanx. From texas.louis juarezlouis

[@itskarl7575]

Why would he say "Shorty, where's my thumb?" As if he knew there was a pilot called Shorty, and knew that he was the one who shot it off.

[@heinzweber7642]

It was a soldiers joke

[@tB3o3tR9o9]

because shorty shortened his thumb. that's why his nickname was shorty^^ id io t

[@dougdenhamlouie]

My dad flew with 15th AF 333 into Polesti. He was flying wing to the leader when they were jumped from 6 o clock high. The wing leader was killed as his p-51 exploded. My dad engaged the offending 190 and shot him down. My father suffered wing damage flying through the 190s wreckage and had to bailout. This was may 31 1944. Anyone out there have a idea how I might find out who piloted the FW 190 that day. Since this FW 190 led the attack it might be rather easy if I had the records?

[@Kardia_of_Rhodes]

5:38 with the advent of drones I fear this will be lost to history.

[@DaviLu]

MAXZONE47 Air to air combat is very rare nowadays which is a good thing.

[@wohololao]

Heroes!

[@igorsanchez408]

In Germany, we fly until your awarded the Iron cross--or the wooden cross.. --Gunther Rall--

[@freakyflow]

I must of been a fighter pilot that died in WW2 Because ever since i was a young kid I loved WW2 planes even knew how to prime a Hurricane and this was before flight sims or computers I hated the Germans and they were the enemy as i watched ww2 movies etc ..Later i taught myself to know Who what when where why and admire these men on bothsides for having to put there lives at risk to fight for there country The mind set wasn't to kill people because your right and they are wrong You Put up your life on a job to do Every day Hate was fear. Death was all around ..These men seen ghost every night till there own end

[@marlingustafson525]

Me too!!!!!

[@lastactionmedic5677]

I'm gonna miss the guys from that generation 🍺

[@djj4314]

Really interesting. Good to see decent blokes on both sides,but let's hope a war like this,never happens again.

[@bearcat5203]

Gunther Rall died in 09.

[@tonymccomish1506]

RIP all especially those who share that awful bond

[@marcelomarcelo2695]

Salve a Grande Alemanha

[@danilorainone406]

a lot of luftwaffe guys and kriegsmariners after internment as pows,after the war was over,they applied for brit citizenship,and were accepted,galland and rall took positions in the deutches republik bundewehr when german was rehabilitated,a lot of germans were in rapt attention when the russians blockaded berlin trying to starve the amis out,30 ami pilots died during the intricate air ballet called the berlin airlift in 48-49 because they looved german kiddies,west germans understood real well just who had their backs

[@winkerdude]

In the early 70s I was a young dumb GI in Germany. The owner of a local gasthause was also the cook. He claimed to be an ace from WWII. He wrote down his claimed kills on a beer coaster. So many Russian and so many Americans. The total was over 300. I did not believe a word of it. It turned out to be true. To me he was just a fine cook. Someone stole that beer coaster from me and I cannot remember his name.

[@shamrockshore6308]

+winkerdude. Was it Lowenbrau or maybe Becks...so many things it depends on, such as whether he was blonde or dark etc. and his alcohol content.

[@zubb8]

"Was it Lowenbrau or maybe Becks."...WTF?..only two german fighter aces with 300+ count, Erich Hartmann 352, Gerhard Barkhorn 301, next was Gunther Rall 275....then numerous other german aces with scores in the 200s.

[@cabre4]

Gunther is die. The memory of the man, but why nobody speak about not his work for modern Luftwaffe?

[@cabre4]

Gunther is a pilot that had drive from a Bf109 to a F104... Not for alls pilots...

[@zubb8]

"Bf109 - F104"...not just Rall, but >> Hartmann, Barkhorn, Krupinski, Steinhoff, Galland, also flew F104, -- Hartmann also flew F-106.....whilst Barkhorn also spent time in 'Vertol' Kestrel FGA.1 Jump jet, ...later to become the Harrier JJ.

[@cabre4]

Yes, you are right... But for me, Rall is always the best,as a pilot, as a person.

[@zubb8]

cabre4 well, from the words of the top German Aces themselves , it was said Barkhorn was also a very fine fellow...and he flew more post war modern variation jets than Rall.... but i consider any favouritism a silly childish game to play when discussing these top shelf pilots...they were all highly respected consummate professionals in their field.

[@cabre4]

No silly childish, I have my opinion, you the yours... At end, only a person that said the experiences as a pilot from 2nd War Word to the future... No aces, only a man.

[@zubb8]

cabre4 - Only a childish fool would try and seperate the skills of the top german Aces Hartmann, Barkhorn, Rall ,etc.... ..and try and claim one is better than the other.. take note that Gunther Rall never claimed to be better than the other top German aces, ...but know nothing idiots like you do.

[@briansteffmagnussen9078]

War creates great men.

[@danilorainone406]

an item of interest on shooting at bailed out pilots in parachutes,brit fightrer head of 12 group leigh mallory broached the subject with bi lat amputee sq leader douglas bader,on the german side,goering der fatso visited galland and his luftfloten funf pilots at abeville to chew them all out for not pursuing brit fighters aggressively enough,galland was taken aside for one of goerings sudden better humored chats and change of mood, asking ',,,,what he would think of an order to shoot down men in parachutes,galland responded "I would do all in my power to disobey such and order,,' and I would shoot down any of my own pilots for doing that,' Brits respected galland and his fighter boys,,they fought hard,but good luck to the guy who got to live another day after bailing out.rall galland,and bader all survived the war,,neat that they became pals after the peace of 45 may.,,rest in peace fellas, schlaft alle im ruhe deutchlander und britlander

[@air2air]

See this story and more on www.uflytv.com!

[@a.f.w.froschkonig2978]

Hubert Zemke ? A german fighting on the wrong side ? Even helping the bloody bolsheviks, who just had killed millions of Ukrainians and ruthlessly attacked Finland ? How ugly is this ? Some soldiers are really stupid.

[@mirelamihalic8484]

great men R.I.P,MORE STORY SHUDE BE TOLD BY WW2 SOLDIERS.

[@caesarillion]

Duty. RIP

[@Oscar-df9sc]

As Rall said "Where we had the real dogfights in Russia" !! in Russia it was fought at low altitude and until 1943 the Soviets fought in almost numerical equality against the Germans, who considered the bravest Russian pilots due to the same factor.

[@panamapanama4857]

Warriors who used to fight for their counteies , followimg orders as soldiers , god bless them

[@lieugebo805]

It's a shame all of our countrymen fought for going down the toilet🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

[@sontungle2641]

222 kills!!!

[@captainkapalot9644]

This guy met hitler, imagine how that would be like.

[@architekturtuberlin7924]

my grandfather is alive, defended yugoslavia against the nazis

Both names begin with ra ...

[@adriansorin9291]

General Gunther Rall was one of the best fighter pilots ever. A true hero.

[@lawyers9]

This is the legacy of these great men. War is a waste, but love your country and fight for it. We live in a free country. Don’t let the liberals enslave it!

[@heinz490]

germany today the most powerfull nation NeXT to Israel not by numbers but by high tech know how

[@yuriibielik3655]

Я не понимаю о чем они говорят,но лучше бы Германия выиграла войну

[@Pfsif]

I'm surprised at those old soldiers who still believe that they were fighting for our "freedom". I guess they needed to justify bombing innocent civilians in their old age to live with themselves.

[@baas8888]

Maybe, but I still have much respect for them, because they fought for something meaningful, at least for them. And this is honorable, to fight for the things you love and to protect them

[@ivanrakic7152]

Norhing brave In bombing civilians and destroying someons home.

[@Hibernicus1968]

Yeah, you're right. It takes no courage at all to get into a big, slow lumbering target like a heavy bomber, and fly hours over enemy territory, getting shot at by enemy fighters and by flak guns on the ground. No bravery at all is required to line up on a bombing run, flying straight and level so you can hit the target -- but making it easier for the anti aircraft batteries on the ground to get the range and put a shell right into you. It doesn't take courage to fly twenty five such missions, knowing you've got not much better than a 50/50 chance of surviving all those missions and going home. It doesn't take a brave man to keep going after seeing other bombers get shot down and seeing men he knows get killed. There's nothing brave at all about men who do this. God in heaven you deserve a special award for stupidity.

[@sinkosav]

@@Hibernicus1968 these two guys was not bombers pilots...b17 bombers pilots was brave child killers.....carpet bombing dresden

[@Hibernicus1968]

@@sinkosav Yes, I'm aware they're not. The reply was meant merely to dismiss Rakic's absurd contention that there was nothing brave about flying bombing missions in WWII. That's nonsense. Your chances of getting as a bomber crewman were substantially higher than they were if you were in the infantry. That's why they had to limit crewmen and pilots in the USAAF to 25 missions -- more than that made getting killed virtually a certainty. It took a LOT of bravery to face that sort of danger. But, you're right, it was wrong for us and the British to bomb Germany. We should have left Germany alone so they could go on invading their neighbors and slaughtering millions in death camps. The world would have been much better off that way.

[@sinkosav]

@@Hibernicus1968 sure,any man enter any plane have to be brave,and have balls made of steel...knowing that chance to return home are not so big...second...bombing civil cities are war crimes...man did you ask yourself what you done in US kill milions of native americans and using slaves.. or brits robing and invading almost all world in the past ...so what you will say to like example russians nuke britain and us..using that excuse ..cmon man

[@Hibernicus1968]

@@sinkosav "sure,any man enter any plane have to be brave,and have balls made of steel...knowing that chance to return home are not so big...second...bombing civil cities are war crimes..." Which, I remind you, the Germans perpetrated first. Too bad for them they only had two-engine medium bombers, and didn't invest in a strategic bombing arm. Sorry, but it was total war, on a scale never before seen in human history, and it we were sensible to fight it rather ruthlessly. There were no smart bombs back then that could accurately deliver bombs on military and industrial targets, with little or no collateral damage. We did the best we could with the tools we had to achieve very necessary war aims. William T. Sherman summed up the practical attitude to it almost a century earlier: “You might as well appeal against a thunderstorm as against these terrible hardships of war. War is cruelty, there is no use trying to reform it; the crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.” "...man did you ask yourself what you done in US kill milions of native americans and using slaves..." What do you mean "you"? I've never killed a single Native American, nor owned a slave. You also might want to brush up on your history: it's estimated that around 95-97% of the Amerindians killed in North and South America between 1492, and the very last battle against Apaches in 1927 died from Old World diseases to which they had no previous immunity. The number of Amerindians actively killed by whites (as opposed to dying of disease during the ENTIRE period of English colonization and US westward expansion, from 1588 to 1927 is estimated at under 100,000. Just to provide a comparison, the Chinese, in less than a single decade in the 1750s the Qing-dynasty Chinese launched a genocidal campaign against the Dzungar people in Mongolia, depopulating the steppes where they lived, and settled with millions of Qing subjects. Scholars estimate that 500,000 to 800,000 people, roughly 80% of the Dzungar population, was killed. Centuries earlier, the Mongols, under Genghis Khan and his successors, killed an estimated 40 MILLION people, which is thought to be fully a tenth of the ENTIRE human population living on earth at the time! None of this excuses crimes against the Amerindians, of course, but it does mean that our historical record is actually a LOT less bloody than most. As for slavery... Do I really need to remind you that slavery was UNIVERSAL among human civilizations throughout almost all of human history? It was practiced on EVERY continent, by EVERY civilization in history, from ancient times until very recently, when... WESTERN European civilization, embracing the values of the European Enlightenment, saw the rise of an abolitionist movement, beginning in the mid 18th century. It was eradicated in Europe, in the Northern US, and elsewhere in the West, and we fought a bloody civil war in the US to stamp it out here. At the same time this was happening, there was still a thriving slave trade in Africa, the Middle East, and the Ottoman Empire. Eventually, Western powers used their military might to force an end to slavery in the rest of the world. Again, when you compare the US to actual other countries and civilizations in the real world, as opposed to some imaginary ideal, our record looks a hell of a lot better than that of most civilizations throughout history. "...or brits robing and invading almost all world in the past..." See above. As Empires go, the British one was far more benign than most. It was a lot less cruel than the Hittite, Assyrian, Persian, Roman, ancient Chinese, Mongolian, Japanese, etc. I'm sorry, but I see no basis in fact for singling out America or Britain as especially culpable in this regard. Again, while this should not be seen as an apology for imperialism, their record is a LOT better than some. "...so what you will say to like example russians nuke britain and us..using that excuse ..cmon man" I honestly can't even tell what you're trying to say here.

[@chrisberg796]

Awesome! Along with Charlie Brown and Franz Stiglers' story! The best... 👍😎

[@Beauloqs]

The one that talks the most had about 30 victories, the other gent, close to 300......

[@winkerdude]

In the early 70s I was a young dumb GI in Germany. The owner of a local gasthause was also the cook. He claimed to be an ace from WWII. He wrote down his claimed kills on a beer coaster. So many Russian and so many Americans. The total was over 300. I did not believe a word of it. It turned out to be true. To me he was just a fine cook. Someone stole that beer coaster from me and I cannot remember his name.

[@jackfuller8960]

winkerdude Unless he was Eric Hartmann the guy was lying.