Malibu local Michael Fuller helped reunite 2nd Lt. Charles B. Screws with a piece from his P-47 Thunderbolt that was shot down over France by German flak on Jan. 29, 1944. The reunion took place nearly 71 years after the incident. Screws was a part of the 361st Fighter Group, with the original mission of bomber escort, but the aircraft was mortally wounded before the mission was completed. Screws made it back safely to American lines with help from a local French family, and returned to the U.S. as a P-47 pilot instructor in Abilene, Texas.Â
Fuller, a WWII aviation historian, came across the missing tail at an auction in Europe, after two relic hunters in Europe found the remains and, later, they disappeared into private hands. He acquired the tail and shipped it back to the U.S. where it was brought to the now 93-year-old Screws at his Texas home to be signed and later brought to the Texas Air Museum where it will remain on public display.Â