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. Signed
by ten inductees into the American Combat Airman Hall of Fame.
Col. Virgal 'Sandy'Sansing
Col. George E. 'Bud' Day (m.o.h.)
Lt. Robert A. 'Bob' Hoover
CDR Dean S. 'Diz' Laird
Tom Emerich (VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron)
Jim Hall (VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron)
plus four crew members of B-29 Goin' Jessie |