While parachuting, a Japanese pilot decided that downing the plane wasn’t enough. He circled around and started shooting at the bailed out pilots, killing two of the crew. Seeing this, Baggett did the only thing he could. He played dead.
owen-j-baggett
Not convinced Baggett was dead, the Zero pulled up to him at near stall speed, the pilot opening his canopy to check on his horrendous work. Not wasting any time and thinking on his feet (no pun intended), Baggett pulled out his pistol and shot the pilot right in the head.
m1911-pistol
This is considered the best shot by a Caliber .45 M911 pistol of ALL TIME.
The last thing he saw was the Zero spiraling toward earth.
When he landed, he and the other bailed out crew members were captured and sent to a POW camp where they remained till the end of the war. They were liberated by OSS agents (World War II version of the modern CIA) and Baggett was recognized as the only person during the war to shoot down a Zero with a pistol.
Anony Mouse's Link
Since he was parachuting down at the time, shouldn't that be "thinking on the fly" :-)
Sorry, couldn't resist that one. It is a great story.
Terry
