In 1943, B-17 tail gunner Eugene Moran plummeted towards Earth in the severed tail section of his bomber after a Luftwaffe attack over Bremen. With a bullet-riddled parachute, his fate seemed sealed.

GOTHENBURG — Like many a veteran of many a war, Charles Stuart Bachmann long kept his memories of his World War II combat to himself. Only in recent years, family members say, has the 93-year-old ...