NARRATOR: October 12, 1944.
A squadron of
red-tailed P-51 Mustangs
of the 332nd Fighter
Group soar over Lake
Balaton in southern Hungary.
After completing
an escort mission,
they are returning
to base in Italy.
Among them is Captain Wendell
Pruitt and his wingman
Lieutenant Lee
Archer, the Gruesome
Twosome, as they are known.
As they reach the
southern tip of the lake,
tiny specks appear
on the horizon,
a swarm of German ME-109s.
LEE ARCHER: There were more
German airplane in the air
than I've ever seen before.
We kind of made a
little side decision.
Well, this might be it.
NARRATOR: Pruitt, Archer,
and the rest of the Red Tails
don't flinch.
LEE ARCHER: We didn't run
or anything like that.
We said, OK, they're up here.
There's as many of
them as it is of us.
We'll take them on.
NARRATOR: Throttles firewall.
Machine guns arm.
The Tuskegee Airmen rip
through the German formation.
[guns firing]
The skies above
Lake Balaton explode
with the roar of piston
engines and the staccato burst
of machine guns and cannon.
With the battle raging
all around them,
Pruitt and Archer
select a target.
They'll make a head-on
pass with a German 109
just off their nose.
The Gruesome Twosome
streak past the enemy.
Archer drops in trail of Pruitt
as they roll left in pursuit.
He pulled ahead, and I
pulled right behind them
to try to stay on him.
He was a heck of a pilot, and
just saying there sometimes
was a full-time job.
NARRATOR: Pruitt's tight turn
takes the German by surprise.
The P-51's four
0.50 cals open up.
The pilot leaps from
the smoking plane.
But just as they pull away
from their first victory,
another 109 roars in
from 3 o'clock high.
He pulled in to take
a side shot at Pruitt,
and Pruitt slowed down.
I guess he chopped
throttle or something.
I know I did.
NARRATOR: Pruitt's
quick reaction
saves him from certain death.
Reducing his speed causes the
109 to overshoot to the side.
With careful
maneuvering, he can flush
the 109 out in front of him.
Archer lets his
lead do the work.
Pruitt manages to
force the 109 out.
But suddenly, another German
bursts into the fight.
And the other one came
in to get on Pruitt's tail,
not realizing that my
only job at that time
was to protect to Pruitt's tail.
So there's the enemy 109.
There's Pruitt shooting at him.
There's the enemy 109
shooting at Pruitt,
and there's me shooting at him.
NARRATOR: Archer expertly
leads his mark and fires.
The 109 tumbles, smoke belching
from the wounded plane.
Seconds later, Pruitt fires
a long burst into his 109.
[guns firing]
Another victory for
the Gruesome Twosome,
but they're not done yet.
They dive back
into the fur ball.
He made a screaming turn back
to where all the other aircraft
was, and I really
wasn't sure that
was a great idea at the time.
NARRATOR: Pruitt instantly
spots a target amidst the chaos.
Another 109 is positioned
just off his nose.
We got into the
other airplanes.
Another one picked him up, and
he made a head-on pass on him
with me peppering behind him.
NARRATOR: Pruitt and Archer roar
past the German, guns blazing.
Archer follows Pruitt through
another crushing left turn.
I guess I was
lagging a little bit.
Another one came
right in behind him.
They were suckers.
They didn't see the second
airplane a thousand yards
behind, armed to the teeth.
NARRATOR: Again, Archer's
0.50 cal spark to life.
[guns firing]
Archer speeds past the wreckage.
He's now one victory away
from making ace, with plenty
of targets to choose from.
LEE ARCHER: At that time,
there was so many airplanes
in the air that I say somehow
I lost Wendell O. Pruitt,
but it's not true.
I saw an aircraft that I could
take on who was coming my way.
NARRATOR: Archer is here.
The 109 is here.
Archer can easily
initiate a head-on pass
by banking to the right.
In an instant, the
adversaries merge.
They break into each
other and begin circling.
Whoever pulls tighter
will win the contest.
The 109 inches closer
to firing position.
The German's heavy
cannon is poised
to unleash lethal
retribution on Lee Archer.
The American has
seconds to react.
He spots a second 109.
I look out to the
right, and I see this guy
all by himself, a pigeon, and he
was flying straight and level.
NARRATOR: Archer
breaks instinctively.
Since then, a lot
of people say, well,
when you turned on this
second aircraft, what
about the guy behind you?
I forgot all about him,
and I think that's how
I got my left wing hit.
And it must have
been a cannon shot
because it had a hole in the
wing huge under the bottom.
NARRATOR: Archer
latches onto his target.
The German counters by pitching
over into a steep dive.
He's headed for the
safety of an airbase,
but the maneuver fails.
The determined
Mustang pilot will not
be denied his fifth victory.
Lee Archer opens the
throttle and pulls away.
He's bested the German,
but he's broken formation
with his flight
lead Wendel Pruitt,
strictly forbidden
for a wing man.
I guess the only
thing on my mind,
how do I explain to Pruitt
how this happened, you know?
NARRATOR: Now alone and low on
ammo, he heads back to base.
Archer's three
victories on October 12
bring his war total to five.
It is an historic
achievement made
by a skilled and
aggressive fighter pilot.
The Tuskegee Airmen
now have an ace.
