Padre Pio And The Bomber Pilots
Many Allied aviation pilots of various nationalities (English, American, Polish, Palestinian), and of varied religions (Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim, Protestants, Jewish), who during the Second World War, after September 8, 1943, were based in Bari, Italy, to undertake missions on Italian territory, gave testimony to the following:
Each time while fulfilling their Italian military mission, they approached the zone of Gargano, in the environs of San Giovanni Rotondo they saw in the sky a Friar, who in stretching out his wounded hands, prevented them from dropping their bombs.
Foggia and almost all of the centers of Puglia were subjected to repeated bombardment; on San Giovanni Rotondo, not one bomb fell! This event, which is to say the least unheard of, was directly witnessed by the General of Aeronautica Italiana, Bernardo Rosini, who at that time was part of the "United Air Command" operating out of Bari with the Allied Air Forces. "Each time that the pilots returned from their missions," General Rosini told me, "they spoke of this Friar that appeared in the sky and diverted their planes, making them turn back."
Everyone laughed at these incredulous stories. But since the episodes kept recurring, the commanding General decided to intervene personally. He took command of a squadron of bombers to destroy a supply of German war materials that was said to be right in San Giovanni Rotondo.
Up until that time, no one had ever succeeded in going in that direction because of the presence in the air of that mysterious phantasm which forced the airplanes back.
"Since this had been happening for some time, at the base there was much apprehension. We were all curious to see the results of this operation. When the squadron returned, we went over to ask what had occurred. The American General was quite upset. He recounted that as soon as they arrived near the target, he and his pilots had seen rising up into the sky the figure of a monk with his hands held high. The bombs dropped all by themselves, falling in the woods, and the planes turned in retreat, without any intervention on the part of the pilots."
That evening the episode was the main topic of conversation. Everyone was wondering who was this apparition which the airplanes mysteriously obeyed! Someone said to the Commanding General that at San Giovanni there lived such a priest with the stigmata, whom everyone considered a Saint, and that perhaps he was the very one responsible for diverting the planes. The General found this hard to believe, but as soon as it was possible, he wished to go there to find out.
After the war, the General, accompanied by a few pilots, arrived at the Capuchin Convent. As soon as he crossed the threshold of the sacristy, he found himself facing a number of Friars, among whom he recognized immediately, as the one who had stopped his airplanes.
"So, it is you, the one who wished to do away with all of us!" Astonished at seeing and hearing the Friar, the General kneeled before him.
Padre Pio had spoken in his usual Benevento dialect, but the General was convinced that the Padre had spoken in English.
The two became friends. The General who was a Protestant, converted to Catholicism.
Source: Fr. Renzo Allegri.