AlamoPA Mailing List: Best shot, ever, with a M-1911 .45

[Bob Heiser (w7ikt]

 

 

Best shot, ever, with a M-1911 .45. 

 

Owen John Baggett was born in 1920 in Graham, Texas .  By 1941 he graduated from college and went on to work on Wall Street, but by the following year, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps (now USAF) when the United States entered the war.

 

 

A studious man, he graduated from pilot training in just five months and was sent to Burma , flying a B-24 Liberator.  What happened the following year is one of those stories we just described.

 

On March 31st, 1943, Baggett and his squadron were sent on a mission to destroy a bridge of strategic importance. On their way, the B-24s got intercepted by Japanese Zeros which hit the squadron hard. Baggetts' plane was riddled with bullets to such an extent that the crew was forced to bail out.

 

While parachuting, a Japanese pilot decided that downing the plane wasn't enough.  He circled around and started shooting at the bailed out pilots, killing two of the crew.  Seeing this, Baggett did the only thing he could. He played dead.

 

 

 

Not convinced Baggett was dead, the Zero pulled up to him at near stall speed, the pilot opening his canopy to check on his horrendous work. Not wasting any time and thinking on his feet (no pun intended), Baggett pulled out his pistol and shot the pilot right in the head.

 

 

 

This is considered the best shot by a Caliber .45 M1911 pistol of ALL TIME.

 

The last thing he saw was the Zero spiraling toward earth.

 

When he landed, he and the other bailed out crew members were captured and sent to a POW camp where they remained till the end of the war.  They were liberated by OSS agents and Baggett was recognized as the only person during the war to shoot down a Zero with a pistol.

 

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same."  Ronald Reagan 

 

 

 

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