On the Foggy morning of Saturday, July 28, 1945, Lt. Colonel William Smith was piloting a U.S. Army B-25 Bomber thru New York City. He was on his way to Newark Airport to pick up his Commanding Officer, but for some reason he showed up over LaGuardia Airport and asked for a weather report. The tower asked him to land because of poor visibility. But Smith requested and was given permission from the military to continue on to Newark. The last transmission from the tower to the plane was a foreboding warning: "From where Im sitting, I can't see the Empire State Building!" At 9:49 am the ten-ton, B-25 Bomber smashed into the North face of the Empire State Building. The majority of the plane hit the 79th Floor, creating a hole in the building 18ft Wide and 20ft High. The planes High-Octane Fuel exploded, hurtling flames down the sides of the building and inside thru hallways and stairwells, all the way to the 75th floor. The crash and the Flames killed 14 people, 11 office workers from the War Relief Services of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, and the three Crewmen onboard the B-25. (scanned by HOS Bandit)

The Most Infamous B-25 "Prang"

Another photo of arguably the most bewutiful woman of WWII!

Leni

This is Faith, church cat at Church of England (Episcopalean) Church of St Augustine's and St Faith's, Watling Street, London.  She was awarded the Dicken Medal in Silver, and a silver medal from the Greenwich Village Humane Society of New York, for her her courage in sheltering her kitten (Panda - he was black and white) in a hidey-hole in the rectory basement, to which she had retreated from her more comfortable position upstairs, in the course of a severe bombing raid on the night of 9 September, 1940.  The church and rectory were, basically, battered and burned to destruction by the Luftwaffe, but Faith continued to shield her kitten, under a heap of smouldering rubble, until rescued by her human friends the following day.  Shortly afterwards, the remainder of the church fell down, destroying her position of refuge.  Faith resumed her life as church cat, dying peacefully some years later on her mat in front of an ecclesiastical fireplace.  The kitten, Panda, went on to a successful career as resident cat in a care home.  Yes, I know - this will seem silly to many In Here.  But consider.  Apart from the fact that it is true, Faith's story became widely known in London at the time, and must have contributed to the morale of many hard-pressed Londoners.  Her courage and endurance reflected something that Londoners hoped to find in themselves - and generally did.  I am a cat person, by the way ...  Best regards, JR. 