Volume 8 Number 1 Spring 2000 - Sabre Pilots Association

The REST Of The Story
Jacqueline Briand
Without the heroism of Jacqueline Briand, the F-86
Sabre Pilots Association might be a very different
organization, or might not exist at all. She played a
big role in the survival of 2nd Lt. Flamm D. Harper,
the distinguished Chairman-Emeritus of the Board
Of Directors of the Sabre Pilots Association.
" No. 1 SNAFU " , the story of how I)ee Harper was shot
down, evaded, and rescued in Korea, was told in the
Fall 1996 issue of SabreJet Classics. That was the second
time Dee was shot down and evaded capture to return
to his unit. In so doing, Dee became one of only two
American pilots known to accomplish this feat.
Dee was downed for the first time on 15 July 1944, while
flying a P-38J Lightning on a fighter-bomber mission
near Montmorillon, about 100 miles south of Paris. (The
story was recounted in the Spring 1999 issue of The
Daedalus Flyer, a publication of the Order of Daedalians
(The National Fraternity of Military Pilots).) While flying
element lead in a flight of four led by 1st Lt. Robin Olds,
Dee ' s Lightning was either hit by flak or debris from a
bomb dropped by another flight member. His aircraft
severely damaged and at very low altitude, Dee rode it
down to a wheels-up landing in a farmers field. Dee
swears he had very little to do with the successful landing
and calls it "miraculous".
As Dee crawled out of the wreck, he saw a French girl
standing alongside the meadow. She beckoned him to
follow her. Bloody, battered and bruised, he followed
the young lady to her grandparents' nearby home. The
family fed him, tended to his injuries, sheltered him
overnight, and provided him with civilian clothes. Then
her father assisted Dee in evading German troops, finally
placing him in the hands of British SAS (Special Air
Service) troops, and the French Maquis underground.
After a series of adventures with these folks, Dee finally
returned to England on 6 August via a behind-the-lines
pick-up by an RAF Hudson.
But it all began with the 14 year old French girl who
had the courage to assist the American pilot, saving him
from almost certain capture by the Germans. Her actions,
and those of her family and other French citizens who
helped, placed them at great risk had they been
discovered. The Germans were well known for severely
punishing anyone who aided the Allies.
Jacqueline Briand and Dee Harper meet for the first
time in 5S years during October 1999. Ms. Briand was
1 4 years old when she helped (then) Lt. Dee Harper
escape the Nazis after his P-38 crashed in France. (credit
- Las Vegas Review Journal)
(above) Jacqueline Briand stands between her two cousins
in Paris during 1944. She was 14 at the time. (below)
U. Dee Harper, 8th U.S. Army Air Force, 1944. (credit -
Jacqueline Briand & I)ce Harper)
Dee didn't learn the name of the French girl until 1998,
when they were placed in touch with each other by a
French archeologist, who was working at the site of Dee's
crash. This began an exchange of correspondence
between Dee and his rescuer, Jacqueland Briand. In
October 1999, Jacqueline, now 70 and a great-
grandmother, along with her husband, visited Dee at
his home in Las Vegas. It was their first visit to the USA,
and Dee arranged a marvelous itinerary of sightseeing
and partying for the Briands. The event was covered in
grand fashion by the Las Vegas ReviewJournal on 1
November 1999.
The F-86 Sabre Pilots Association sends its sincere thanks
to Jacqueline Briand for her heroic actions which helped
Dee Harper survive to fight another day, and to lead
our great association in the last decade of the Twentieth
14 Century.