NARRATOR: October 12, 1944.
A squadron of red-tailed P-51 Mustangs
of the 332nd Fighter Group soar over Lake
Balaton in southern Hungary.
After completing an escort mission,
they are returning to base in Italy.
Among them is Captain Wendell Pruitt and his wingman
Lieutenant Lee Archer, the Gruesome
Twosome, as they are known.
As they reach the southern tip of the lake,
tiny specks appear on the horizon,
a swarm of German ME-109s.
LEE ARCHER: There were more German airplane in the air
than I've ever seen before.
We kind of made a little side decision.
Well, this might be it.
NARRATOR: Pruitt, Archer, and the rest of the Red Tails
don't flinch.
LEE ARCHER: We didn't run or anything like that.
We said, OK, they're up here.
There's as many of them as it is of us.
We'll take them on.
NARRATOR: Throttles firewall.
Machine guns arm.
The Tuskegee Airmen rip through the German formation.
[guns firing]
The skies above Lake Balaton explode
with the roar of piston engines and the staccato burst
of machine guns and cannon.
With the battle raging all around them,
Pruitt and Archer select a target.
They'll make a head-on pass with a German 109
just off their nose.
The Gruesome Twosome streak past the enemy.
Archer drops in trail of Pruitt as they roll left in pursuit.
He pulled ahead, and I pulled right behind them
to try to stay on him.
He was a heck of a pilot, and just saying there sometimes
was a full-time job.
NARRATOR: Pruitt's tight turn takes the German by surprise.
The P-51's four 0.50 cals open up.
The pilot leaps from the smoking plane.
But just as they pull away from their first victory,
another 109 roars in from 3 o'clock high.
He pulled in to take a side shot at Pruitt,
and Pruitt slowed down.
I guess he chopped throttle or something.
I know I did.
NARRATOR: Pruitt's quick reaction
saves him from certain death.
Reducing his speed causes the 109 to overshoot to the side.
With careful maneuvering, he can flush
the 109 out in front of him.
Archer lets his lead do the work.
Pruitt manages to force the 109 out.
But suddenly, another German bursts into the fight.
And the other one came in to get on Pruitt's tail,
not realizing that my only job at that time
was to protect to Pruitt's tail.
So there's the enemy 109.
There's Pruitt shooting at him.
There's the enemy 109 shooting at Pruitt,
and there's me shooting at him.
NARRATOR: Archer expertly leads his mark and fires.
The 109 tumbles, smoke belching from the wounded plane.
Seconds later, Pruitt fires a long burst into his 109.
[guns firing]
Another victory for the Gruesome Twosome,
but they're not done yet.
They dive back into the fur ball.
He made a screaming turn back to where all the other aircraft
was, and I really wasn't sure that
was a great idea at the time.
NARRATOR: Pruitt instantly spots a target amidst the chaos.
Another 109 is positioned just off his nose.
We got into the other airplanes.
Another one picked him up, and he made a head-on pass on him
with me peppering behind him.
NARRATOR: Pruitt and Archer roar past the German, guns blazing.
Archer follows Pruitt through another crushing left turn.
I guess I was lagging a little bit.
Another one came right in behind him.
They were suckers.
They didn't see the second airplane a thousand yards
behind, armed to the teeth.
NARRATOR: Again, Archer's 0.50 cal spark to life.
[guns firing]
Archer speeds past the wreckage.
He's now one victory away from making ace, with plenty
of targets to choose from.
LEE ARCHER: At that time, there was so many airplanes
in the air that I say somehow I lost Wendell O. Pruitt,
but it's not true.
I saw an aircraft that I could take on who was coming my way.
NARRATOR: Archer is here.
The 109 is here.
Archer can easily initiate a head-on pass
by banking to the right.
In an instant, the adversaries merge.
They break into each other and begin circling.
Whoever pulls tighter will win the contest.
The 109 inches closer to firing position.
The German's heavy cannon is poised
to unleash lethal retribution on Lee Archer.
The American has seconds to react.
He spots a second 109.
I look out to the right, and I see this guy
all by himself, a pigeon, and he was flying straight and level.
NARRATOR: Archer breaks instinctively.
Since then, a lot of people say, well,
when you turned on this second aircraft, what
about the guy behind you?
I forgot all about him, and I think that's how
I got my left wing hit.
And it must have been a cannon shot
because it had a hole in the wing huge under the bottom.
NARRATOR: Archer latches onto his target.
The German counters by pitching over into a steep dive.
He's headed for the safety of an airbase,
but the maneuver fails.
The determined Mustang pilot will not
be denied his fifth victory.
Lee Archer opens the throttle and pulls away.
He's bested the German, but he's broken formation
with his flight lead Wendel Pruitt,
strictly forbidden for a wing man.
I guess the only thing on my mind,
how do I explain to Pruitt how this happened, you know?
NARRATOR: Now alone and low on ammo, he heads back to base.
Archer's three victories on October 12
bring his war total to five.
It is an historic achievement made
by a skilled and aggressive fighter pilot.
The Tuskegee Airmen now have an ace.