And He Wishes He Hadn't

For 64 years, Horst Rippert has carried a burden on his conscience... at least, that's what he claims in an upcoming book. The 88-year old former Luftwaffe pilot fears he may have been the one responsible for the disapperance of Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Reuters reports Rippert believes he may have shot down the vaunted French writer and aviator over Marseilles on July 31, 1944. Saint-Exupery (right) disappeared during a secret reconnaissance mission.

According to excerpts from Rippert's upcoming book, "Saint-Exupery: The Final Secret," published Sunday in Le Figaro magazine, the German pilot claims "It's me, I shot down Saint-Exupery."

Further down in the same article, however, Rippert admits he can't be certain it was, in fact, Saint-Exupery who was piloting the doomed aircraft... and frankly, he hopes it wasn't, as Ripper says he was an admirer of writer of "The Little Prince."

"I didn't see the pilot and even so, it would have been impossible for me to know that it was Saint-Exupery," Rippert said. "I have hoped ever since that it wasn't him."

As ANN reported, wreckage from Saint-Exupery's P-38 was located in 2000 off the coast near Marseilles. His body was never found.

FMI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry