Compass Rose - 12x12" Print

Artwork by Don Henderson.

Several years ago while at the 13th Bomb Squadron reunion in Savanna, GA, we visited the Might 8th Air Force Museum. Our docent for the tour of the Museum was Perry Nuhn. Perry had served with the 13th Bomb Squadron at the end of the Korean War, but he had a special interest in the 8th Air Force in WWII. His uncle Sonny was a fighter pilot, an Ace with 15 1/2 victories, on his last mission, he was shot down, he parachuted from his P-51 Mustang and was captured and executed by the Germans.

After our tour of the Might 8th Air Force Museum, Perry took me aside and said he wanted to show me something, we walked out of the museum towards a small chapel modeled to look like one you would see in England where the 8th Air Force was based. Perry knew that my uncle Hink Henderson had served in the 8th Air Force with the 457th Bomb Group out RAF Glatton near Peterborough. As we approached the chapel, we crossed a courtyard with large terrazzo star with a red arrow pointing North. This was the Compass Rose from Hunter Field. 70,000 U.S. Army airmen passed over the Compass Rose from Hunter Field on their way to the UK during World War II. As we walked across the Compass Rose, Perry said Hink as well as his uncle Sonny likely walked across the Compass Rose. I got a chill when he said that, but it was nothing compared to the emotions I was about to experience when we entered the chapel, the first stained glass widow was dedicated to the 457th Bomb Group, my uncle Hink's group! Uncle Hink was a aerial combat gunner on a B-17G called the Wild Hare. While this compass design looks nothing like the 8th Air Force Compass Rose, it is dedicated to all the young men who crossed the Compass Rose on their way to fight fascism.   

Printed from an Epson Expression XP-15000 printer using Claria Hi-Definition Ink on a 13x19" sheet of ultra premium luster photo paper.

Mailed in flat, rigid envelopes to prevent damage or curling, and are ready to frame.

* Watermark will not appear on physical print.