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A POWERFUL TRIBUTE TO THE USMC PILOTS WHO FOUGHT IN THE PACIFIC WAR
IN GALLANT COMPANY
By Robert Taylor
Marine Corps F4F wildcats and F4U Corsairs have fought a bitter air battle. Weary from the contest pilots head back for base. An F4F Wildcat has been raked across its fuselage by gunfire, taking out the radio and puncturing an oil pipe. The pilot is injured but in control, and thus far has been able to maintain speed. His C.O. and wingman have closed in to give support, but with land in sight the F4F has started to trail smoke. From here on in it is courage, determination, and luck that will bring this Marine pilot back to fight another day..
As the Allied forces battled through the Pacific, the US Marine Corps carved a niche in American history that, half a century later, is revered with awesome admiration in all military circles. Within that elite corps of men, none are held in higher esteem than its small band of fighter pilots, who flew and fought throughout the Pacific Campaign.
The cutting edge of its fighter force during the early campaigns was the Grumman F4F Wildcat. Flying this tubby, highly maneuverable little fighter, its Marine pilots put up heroic resistance to the Japanese onslaught until the arrival of the F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcat in 1943.
That year saw some of the fiercest aerial fighting in the Pacific. As Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Lieutenant Colonel Ken Walsh recalls: “Day after day we scrambled everything we’d got to intercept large formations of Japanese bombers and fighters. We fought violent air battles and incessant exchanges of strikes between opposing airfields in the struggle for control of the skies.”
Robert Taylor’s evocative painting depicts a nail-biting drama in the Solomons during the great struggle for air supremacy in 1943.
THE SIGNATURES
The limited edition print is signed by FIVE USMC Aces who were recipients of the Medal of Honor in the Pacific during World War II:
ColonelJEFFERSON J. DE BLANCMOH – 9 victories
Brigadier GeneralJOSEPH J. FOSSMOH – 23 victories
ColonelJIM SWETTMOH – 15 ½ victories
LieutenantKENNETH A. WALSHMOH – 21 victories
Brigadier GeneralROBERT E. GALERMOH – 11 victories
Sold out for many years this has become one of the most famous pieces in Robert Taylor’s extensive portfolio and combined with these original autographs is a historically important piece.
THIS PIECE CAN ALSO BE SUPPLIED FRAMED & SHIPPED–please contact us for details.
