How is this not a movie?

During the Second World War, 2nd Lt. Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th based out of Bomber Group at RAF Kimbolton, England.

His B-17F was called “Ye Olde Pub” and it's first mission was a bombing raid over Bremen which targeted an aircraft factory in December 1943. Having dropped their payload, Ye Olde Pub was badly damaged by some of Bremen's 250 flak guns. Having lost one of their four engines, with another badly damaged, one of the flak gun destroyed the planes plexiglass nose, exposing the crew to an air temperature of -60 C. Ye Olde Pub thus lost it's place in the formation and was attacked by a dozen fighters for over 10 minutes until they moved onto other targets. All but 3 of their machine guns (from the 11 available) froze due to the low temperatures. They were sitting ducks.

Most of the crew were wounded: the tail gunner, had been decapitated by a direct hit from a cannon shell. Brown was wounded in his right shoulder. The morphine syrettes onboard froze, complicating first aid efforts by the crew, while the radio was destroyed and the bomber's exterior heavily damaged. The onboard compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.

After flying over an enemy airfield, a pilot named Franz Stigler, was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17F. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he “had never seen a plane in such a bad state”. The tail and rear section was severely damaged. He could see the remains of the tail gunner.

The nose was smashed and there were bullet holes everywhere. Stigler upon seeing the plane recalled the words of his commanding officer during his time in North Africa. “If I ever see or hear of you shooting at a man in a parachute, I will shoot you myself."

Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17, protecting them from spotters and flak guns on the ground. Stigler looked at Brown who was scared stiff and struggling to control his damaged and bloodstained plane. Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz signaled at Brown to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted the stricken plane to and slightly over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Brown and veered away, back to base.

When Franz landed he told his C.O. that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Brown managed to fly 250 mi (400 km) across the North Sea and land his plane at RAF Seething and gave a full report. The crew were ordered to not mention it. It would humanise the enemy if word got around.

In 1986, the then-retired Lieutenant Colonel Brown was asked to speak at a combat pilot reunion event called a "Gathering of the Eagles" at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Someone asked him if he had any memorable missions during World War II; Brown thought for a minute and recalled the story of Stigler's escort and salute. Afterwards, Brown decided he should try to find the unknown German pilot.

After four years of searching vainly for U.S. Army Air Forces, U.S. Air Force and West German Air Force records that might shed some light on who the other pilot was, Brown hadn't come up with much. He then wrote a letter to a combat pilot association newsletter. A few months later, Brown received a letter from Stigler, who was now, a business man, living in Canada. "I was the one", it said. When they spoke on the phone, Stigler described his plane, the escort and salute confirming everything Brown needed to hear to know he was the German fighter pilot involved in the incident.

They, and the surviving crew of Ye Olde Pub, met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion in 1990, together with 25 people who were alive - all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

Brown and Stigler became close friends and remained so until their deaths within several months of each other in 2008.

tldr some people are truly amazing