During World War II, on April 1, 1945 — Easter Sunday — U.S. Army 1st Lt. Harry Stewart was escorting a formation of B-24 Liberators near Linz, Austria on a mission to attack the railroad marshaling yards in St. Pölten, west of Vienna.

However, while downed flyers could generally count on becoming prisoners of war, Manning was lynched from a lamp post in Linz-Hörsching, Austria by troops inspired by local SS units.

In 2017, Harry Stewart returned to Austria for a ceremony that dedicated a memorial in Linz-Hörsching for his friend Walter Manning.

“It was near this date 73 years ago that we were on a fighter sweep in this area of the country here and that’s when Walter was shot down.

Later on, about three days later he met his demise, being captured by a mob and being executed at the time,” Stewart recalled during the ceremony.