Photos by Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

World War II pilot Bill Overstreet of Roanoke visited his old air base last week, his first trip back to England since the war.

Overstreet, a World War II ace, keeps his medals in a box at home.

Overstreet holds a replica of his P-51C Mustang "Berlin Express."

Overstreet's hand-painted leather jacket bears the image of his plane.

Bill Overstreet has been to Europe twice in his life.

The first time, in 1943, he sailed over on the Queen Elizabeth; just a few months out of his teens, he was off to fight in World War II.

The second time was last week, 65 years later, but that time the former fighter pilot and Roanoke certified public accountant took an Airbus A300.

"It was a great trip," said Overstreet, 87, a surviving member of the U.S. Army Air Forces' 357th Fighter Group. That standing makes him a frequent guest of historical societies and at promotional events.

His visit to England last week was for a series of dinners and autograph sessions presented by Aces High Aviation Gallery, a British company that produces and displays military portraits and paid for his trip.

Overstreet, with his P-51C Mustang fighter plane, which he dubbed the "Berlin Express," said he flew 102 missions during the war, as well as an unspecified number of assignments for the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency.

"We were the first to go Berlin," he said of his group. "We had the job of clearing the skies before the invasion."

The war years were a harrowing time for the young pilot, who said he was shot down three times and escaped once after being captured by German soldiers, and who is perhaps best known for having chased a German Messerschmitt 109G underneath the arches of the Eiffel Tower before finally shooting down the enemy plane.

"A chaplain insisted I didn't travel alone," he recalled. "He said I had angels with me all the time."

When he talks about such experiences, however, it's with a quiet modesty and a wry sense of self-deprecation.

"Fighter pilots had to be dumb and stupid to want to take the risk," he joked. "We found out later that the brain is not developed until you're 25, so that was probably the reason we worked as fighter pilots."

At his Southwest Roanoke home, Overstreet's tidy computer room -- lined with aviation portraits, books on military history and squadrons of precise aircraft models -- attests to his seriousness about the past.

"When you're one person in a plane, you do everything -- fly, navigate, fight -- there's no one to help you at all," he said.

That isolation, he said, gave the pilots "a different feeling about your opponent."

He described German fighter pilots as "gentlemanly" and said that if two opposing planes were out of ammunition and "knew we couldn't do any more damage, we'd fly together and salute each other. There wasn't any big hatred from person to person, although we hated the German government and what they'd been doing during the war."

That camaraderie continues today, Overstreet said. Through his appearances at events, he has met several of the pilots he once fought against.

During his trip last week, he met former Luftwaffe pilot Lt. Hugo Broch and also reconnected with his friend, Clarence "Bud" Anderson, 86, a World War II triple ace with the 357th. The two flew more than 50 missions together and although Anderson now lives in California, they remain close.

"We were together many hours every day," Overstreet said of the mixture of American and German pilots. "Friendly group, we got along fine, every one of us."

Overstreet also had the opportunity to revisit his old headquarters at the Royal Air Force base in Leiston. Much has changed in the decades since he was stationed there, he said. A barn that used to hold auxiliary fuel tanks now stands empty. Parts of the concrete runway are used as storage spaces for waste containers. Some of the buildings have been modified while others have crumbled.

A monument has been erected there, too, dedicated to the men of the 357th.

"The Friends of Leiston Airfield created this memorial and keep it up and it's pretty cool that they do that," Anderson said.

Together, the two former fighter pilots placed a wreath at the monument. Overstreet said he enjoyed the trip back, but said spending time with his old friend was the highlight for him.

"It's hard to beat a friend of 65 years," Overstreet declared.