Moral Courage

Robert Rosie Rosenthal is a relatively unknown American hero from World War II. Enlisting in the Army Air Corps immediately following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Mr. Rosenthal would go on to become a legend among the men of the 100th Bomb Group (BG) and Eighth Air Force. Rosenthal initially flew AT-6 trainers in Ft Myers, Florida before transferring to the 100th BG, located at Thorpe Abbotts, England. On just his third combat mission, he saw 12 100th BG bombers lost over the skies of Munster. His Royal Flush was the only 100th Bomb Group airplane to return from the 10 October 1943 raid. Rosenthal would go on to fly three tours for the 100th, totaling a remarkable 52 missions--the most of any 100th BG pilot. Rosenthal embodied courage. Very few men volunteered to stay for additional tours after successfully completing one and virtually no one volunteered for a third. Rosenthal passion to fight the enemy drove him to continue flying harrowing missions, eventually leading to being shot down on his last mission--a bombing raid over Berlin. Rosenthal fought, even though he could have walked away. After the war was over, Rosenthal continued to fight at the Nuremberg trials, finding solace in seeing these once powerful men brought to justice. His courageous nature is a tribute to his strength of conviction that he hated to see anyone get kicked around. Research collection for this project included examination of the online catalogs at the Air University Library, as well as the Air Force Historical Research Agency. In addition, online internet searches served as a starting point for the research. Remarkably, other than the 1943 Munster raid, very few references to Mr. Rosenthal existed. He is truly an unsung hero.