The story of how Goering bombarded Reich

Werner Göring

"What the hell was Hermann Göring’s nephew doing piloting an American heavy bomber over Germany?” was a question military and civilian intelligence struggled with and prepared for, with extreme prejudice, if, and when the need arose.
Werner Goering couldn’t shake reminders of his famous uncle, Hermann W. Göring, head of the Luftwaffe and Adolf Hitler’s legal successor. In the skies over the European theater, he did his best to reclaim the family name.
U.S. Army records confirm that Werner, a 21 year old “Mighty Eighth” Army Air Force captain in early 1945, commanded 49 “Flying Fortress” combat missions over Nazi-occupied Europe—well beyond the 30 sorties that then constituted a squadron lead-pilot’s tour of duty.
He could have gone home by Christmas of 1944, as most of his original crew mates did, but at the peak of the bloody air war, Werner signed on for a second tour with the British based 303rd Bombardment Group, “The Hell’s Angels,” one of America’s most storied warrior fraternities and the single most active bomber group in the Army Air Force. He fought until the bitter end—to the May 8, 1945, Nazi surrender. Among a fistful of other medals, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the nations’ highest military decorations, while quietly carrying the burden of his blood-soaked surname throughout the war and beyond.  He battled the Nazi war machine in the war’s longest and deadliest battle for Americans, was nearly assassinated by a suspicious U.S. government, and faced the distrust of other officers.