The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States.

This medal is for the men who went down that day.

It's for the families of those who didn't make it.

Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.

On Medal of Honor, stories of courage, you'll hear about these heroes and what their stories

tell us about the nature of bravery.

Listen to Medal of Honor wherever you get your podcast.

This presentation of In Their Own Words is dedicated to the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

By 1942, the air over Germany was aflame with German fighters battling Allied bombers for the survival of Europe and the free world.

Central to this air war were the planes of the Allies. At first, they were obsolete and woefully inadequate death traps

and fell from the skies like crushed autumn leaves.

But with the advent of planes like the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang,

the tide of war was about to change.

But no airplane fights a war.

It must be flown by a skilled pilot.

A man like Clarence Bud Anderson, who first flew the revolutionary P-51 Mustang

while escorting bombers over Germany.

But in the evil dark skies ahead, lay in wait the fighters of the Luftwaffe, who would challenge

Bud Anderson and his amazing new airplane.

He would soon learn the best and the worst his incredible machine had to offer.

Yeah, I flew P51s in World War II, flying from England in the European theater with the 357th fighter group,

part of the 8th Air Force, escorting heavy bombers over Europe.

...