Close Call
by
Roy Grinnell
Close Call! honors the 435th Squadron of the l9th Bombardment Group, the Unit Inductee into the American Combat Airman Hall of Fame.

In early l942, a lone B-17E of the 435th Squadron, l9th Bombardment Group, on a reconnaissance mission near Bougainville is forced down to the deck by weather. Popping out of the overcast sky, pilot John Wallace Fields, navigator Hulet Hornbeck and crew found themselves flying directly down the centerline of a Japanese man-o-war, which immediately opened fire. The Flying Fortress narrowly evading both the enemy fire and the resulting water geysers evokes the desperate circumstances into which American airmen were repeatedly thrust in the dark early days of WWII
This print was signed by the pilot, John Wallace Fields, the navigator, Hulet Hornbeck, of the 435th Squadron, and several other airmen of the l9th bombardment group.
It is also signed by six inductees into the Hall of Fame, including Col. Clarence C. "Bud" Anderson, Commander Harold Buell, ATC Wayne C. Colley, Lt. Gen. Keith K. Compton, Lt. Ray "Hap" Halloran, and Col. Ralph Parr.
There were two other inductees, President George H.W. Bush, and
Lt. Gen. Jay T. Robbins which were not present.
Image Size: 25" x 14 1/2"

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