The Dog-Fight

I remember hearing of a tale from World War II that was both gruesome and educational. It was about the Air War over Europe.

A particular Allied pilot was dog-fighting with the Axis over Germany towards the end of the war, when he noticed one of the German pilots was not engaging. So he followed the plane, and to his shock and horror, found that this German was instead preying on Allied pilots who had ejected from their damaged planes. The pilot would zero in on each of them as they helplessly floated down in their parachutes, shooting and killing them.

Upon seeing this, the Allied pilot was immediately filled with a divine, righteous fury, and knew that he had to put an end to the reign of terror of the coward, as well as avenge his fallen comrades. So without a second thought he engaged, knowing that if he failed, not only would no one know of what had happened, but his adversary would likely kill him in his parachute as well, before returning to his unwarranted and villainous task.

The engagement was long and hard fought, but though less well trained and less experienced than the German, some mysterious and unseen power was on the Allied pilot's side, and he eventually shot down the German's craft, forcing him to eject. The German delayed opening his parachute, because he must have known what fate awaited him. But the Allied pilot circled him like a shark, and when the parachute was finally deployed, he zeroed in on the poor wretch, opening up on him until there was nothing left.

I take this as a cautionary tale, and the lesson I have come to draw from it is that we must be exceedingly careful how we treat those who we have power over. Everyone has friends who will avenge their mistreatment, and there is almost always someone watching us, should we in a moment of weakness be reduced to committing foul deeds against our fellow human beings. While unrighteousness is its own punishment, even a completely selfish person should take heed that predatory behavior will undoubtedly have terrible consequences, for others at first, but also eventually for them as well.