William Bruce “Bill” Overstreet, Jr. was born on April 10, 1921 in Clifton Forge, Virginia. He was the son of William Bruce and Gertrude Taylor Overstreet. On the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Bill was working as a Statistical Engineer for Columbia Engineering and attending Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston) in Charleston, WV. Wanting to get in the Air Corps as a fighter pilot, Bill enlisted and did a lot of fast talking to get accepted into the program, and by February 1942 he was a Private, waiting for an opening as an Aviation Cadet. After several months, he was sent to Santa Anna, California, for preflight training, and after several months at preflight, he was sent to Rankin Aeronautical Academy in Tulare, California, for primary flight training flying Stearmans.
William was an American fighter pilot and a veteran of the 357th Fighter Group, 363rd Fighter Squadron of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He is best known for his solo pursuit of a German Messerschmitt Bf 109G underneath the arches of the Eiffel Tower in 1944.
The alleged engagement occurred on an unknown date in the spring of 1944, Bill Overstreet and his P-51B Mustang ('Berlin Express') were near Paris when the action started.
Overstreet reportedly had followed a Bf 109 from the enemy fighter sortie on the US bomber group he was escorting. After most of the German fighters had broken off the attack, Overstreet and the German had begun a running dogfight, but as they neared Paris, the Messerschmitt now had Overstreet and his Mustang on his tail.
The Bf 109 pilot flew over Paris hoping that the heavy German anti-aircraft batteries surrounding the city would engage Overstreet and his 'Berlin Express.' Overstreet managed to get some hits in at about 1500 feet. The German's engine was hit and damaged, but Overstreet stayed on his tail braving the intense enemy ground fire.
The German pilot aimed his plane at the Eiffel Tower and in a surprising maneuver, flew beneath it. Undeterred, Overstreet followed right behind him, scoring several more hits in the process. The German plane crashed and Overstreet escaped the heavy flak around Paris by flying low and full throttle down the Seine until he had cleared the heavily defended city's anti-aircraft batteries.
The scene of Overstreet chasing and downing the enemy plane gave inspiration to the French citizens and the Resistance. He was awarded France's highest military award, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur by the French Ambassador to the United States Pierre Vimont at a ceremony held at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia on June 6, 2009.
Overstreet's fellow pilots in the 357th Fighter Group noted that he did not mention the episode during the war. Furthermore, there is no date, no encounter report, no victory claim, and no indication of a crash site in a densely populated city.
His tour of duty ended in October, 1944 and Bill returned to the states. His next assignment was to teach at the gunnery school in Pinellas, Florida. Overstreet was released from active duty, but kept in Reserves. So, he returned to Charleston, West Virginia where he worked as General Manager of Charleston Aviation. Overstreet eventually moved to Roanoke, Virginia in 1950 and worked for a CPA firm, before striking out on his own, retiring in 1984.
Overstreet died on December 29, 2013, at the age of 92 and is now buried in the Evergreen Burial Park, Roanoke, Roanoke City, Virginia, USA.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, en.wikipedia.org