Sandy's Change of Plans by Roy Grinnell

On June 20, 1944, Lt. Virgal "Sandy" Sansing, 359th Fighter Group, 369th Fighter Squadron, flying his P-51B Mustang strafed the rail yards at Chateau-Thierry, where German troop trains were being dispatched to the western part of France to slow down the Allied forces that had landed two weeks earlier. On his third pass, Sandy's plane was hit by 20 mm flak and caught fire. After ten minutes the fire was so intense that he had to bail out. He landed near the village of Puiseux-en-Retz where the French Underground hid him for several weeks until the Allied front line reached the area, allowing Sandy to return home to his sweetheart, Constance!

The lithograph was signed on October 6, 2006 by American Combat Airmen Hall of Fame Inductees Col. Virgal "Sandy" Sansing, USAF (Ret), Col. George E. "Bud" Day, USAF (Ret) MOH recipient, Lt. Robert A. "Bob" Hoover, USAAF, CDR Dean S. "Diz" Laird, USN (Ret), 4 surviving crew members of B-29 "Goin' Jessie" and 2 members of VMF-214 the "Black Sheep Squadron" Tom Emerich and Jim Hall, and of course Roy.

Signatures:

Col. Virgal "Sandy" SANSING, USAF (Ret)

Col. George E. "Bud" DAY, USAF (Ret), MOH awardee

Lt. Robert A. "Bob" HOOVER, USAAF

CDR Dean S. "Diz" LAIRD, USN (Ret)

4 surviving crew members of B-29 "Goin' Jessie"

Tom EMERICH , "Black Sheep Squadron" (VMF-214) member

Jim HALL, "Black Sheep Squadron" (VMF-214) member