Talk:William Overstreet Jr.

The high color of this article suggests to me that it merits some more detail. How many kills did this man record? etc. DulcetTone (talk) 00:59, 23 July 2021 (UTC)

Issues with original research, NPOV, and sourcing

This article has a number of serious issues right now:

1. Complete misrepresentation of sources and NPOV issues. The sources do not include any of the claims that the current article makes, including the fully unsourced intro section, quoting:

He is best known for his claim, completely unsubstantiated, that he pursued a German Messerschmitt Bf 109G underneath the arches of the Eiffel Tower in 1944. But this is not true. Overstreet first started telling this story very late in life. If he had done this, the German would have turned after clearing the tower and shot down Overstreet. The smarter move would have been for Overstreet to go around and pick off the German as he cleared the tower. And this is not counting all the ground flak that would have gotten Overstreet long before

Which is contradicted by both of the section's two linked sources. Second source quoting Len Krenzler:

The German’s engine was hit, and Bill stayed on his tail braving the intense enemy flak. His desperation undoubtedly growing, the German pilot aimed his plane at the Eiffel Tower and in a surprising maneuver, flew beneath it

Third source, pulled from the internet archive:

Overstreet’s most famous flight came while in solo pursuit of a German Messerschmitt Bf 109G flying into Nazi-occupied Paris. He maneuvered his plane beneath the arches of the Eiffel Tower, reigniting the spirit of the French Resistance troops on the ground.

The article's current claim is therefore a direct misrepresentation of both listed current sources, which is an issue further compounded by

2. An ongoing issue with original research. The entire description of the dogfight from line one starting

German fighters attacked the American bomber group Overstreet was escorting.

to the paragraph's conclusion is completely unsourced, and makes a number of speculative claims that ought to have a source, notably including claims like

Had this actually occurred there would be some record of the German fighter crashing in the Paris streets and Overstreet would have likely killed French civilians on the streets and in their homes.

This is an issue endemic throughout the article, and until such time as sources are provided that would argue Overstreet, in contradiction to the current sources, did not in fact do these things, the unsourced claims should be removed from this article. 2604:2D80:9188:1D00:E12D:A65B:E78B:E5D8 (talk) 20:37, 26 July 2024 (UTC)