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 |