1. Craig Kodera Pacific Morning: Black Sheep On The Prowl, L.e. Print $795.00 Looking for targets of opportunity near Rabaul in the Solomon Islands, 1944, former Maj. USMC "Pappy" Boyington and other Marine Fighter Pilots from the famous VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron, flew the Vought F4U Corsair. The famed Black Sheep pilots owned the skies in the Western Pacific. Countersigned by Lt Col John F. Bolt, USMC (Ret), Col Edwin A. Harper, USMC (Ret), BGen Bruce J. Matheson, USMC (Ret), Col H. Allan McCartney, USMC (Ret), Edwin L. Olander
2. Craig Kodera & WILLIAM PHILLIPS "The Men Who Brought the Dawn: Lonely Flight to Destiny" & "Dawn The World Forever Changed". Matched Set $3500.00 On August 8, 1945, Russia finally joined the Allies and declared war on Japan. Despite that and the atomic bombing of Hiroshime, the Japanese still did not surrender. By 10:00 that same night, a second atomic bomb was placed in a B-29 Superfortress named .
At 3 PM, on August 4, 1945, Colonel Paul Tibbets began briefing the crew of the B-29 named Enola Gay. In the early morning hours of August 5, the crew made its final preparations. At midnight there was a final briefing. The call sign decided upon was, innocuously, "Dimples." Tibbets finished his talk: "Do your jobs. Follow your orders. Don't cut corners and don't take chances." Then the weather officer passed along last-minute information and the chaplain offered a prayer.
3. Craig Kodera Stratojet Shakedown Limited Edition Print $265.00 The early 1950s was a threatening time for the United States and the free world. It was also a time of discovery in aviation, a time of adventure and a lot of hard work for the Strategic Air Command. Flight crews were constantly on alert or in the air, frequently for fifteen hours at a time. Life on an air base was stressful and the demand for vigilance and excellence was never ending.
4. Craig Kodera ONLY ONE SURVIVED $950.00 ONLY ONE SURVIVED - World War II's Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war in the Pacific, leading to eventual Allied victory. At the very start of that fateful conflict came this ominous confrontation. At 7:00 a.m. on June 4, 1942, Grumman TBF Avengers of the VT-8 squadron on their maiden combat flight were attacked by Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters. 8-T-1 was the only Avenger to return from the encounter and pilot Bert Earnest and tunnel gunner Harry Ferrier were the only two men on that aircraft to survive. The seventy-two hours following the incident saw the turning of the tide in the Pacific: In sinking four of the most powerful Japanese aircraft carriers and thereby eliminating Japan's most experienced pilots, the U.S. Navy set the stage for eventual victory. Countersigned by Pilot Albert K. "Bert" Earnest and Tunnel Gunner/Radioman Harry H. Ferrier
5. Craig Kodera Target: Nagoya $0.00 Target: Nagoya Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo April 18, 1942 "This is my Uncle, Jack Hilger, who was second in command on the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo," says artist Craig Kodera. " Don Smith is on his right wing as they are heading down the coast. Shortly, Uncle Jack will break away for Nagoya and Smith to Kobe. The planes are some of the rare North American B-25B Mitchells most of them built for Jim Doolittle."
6. Craig Kodera Fifty Years a Lady $0.00 Fifty Years a Lady The DC-3: no other airplane has revolutionized air transportation, flown as many hours, served with as many airlines or flown in continuous service as long. Stemming from the earlier Douglas designs of the DC-1 and DC-2, the DC-3 production lines ran a scant ten years but produced 455 airliner versions and well over 10,000 military versions. "In my painting," said Craig Kodera, "I strove to evoke a sense of warmth, nostalgia and romance. Never have so many stories been written about a single airplane; never has on airplane been so much a part of our consciousness. It seems that everyone, at one time, has flown in a DC-3. This painting is for all of them. As unique as the airplane is, so too is the painting. My goal was to capture not just the airframe but indeed the spirit of aviation which is the Douglas DC-3.
7. Craig Kodera Light the Candles! $0.00 Light the Candles! Beginning at the height of World War II, America joined several other western nations in preparing for high speed/supersonic flight utilizing the new propulsion engine, the jet. Limitations as to thrust of the new engines negated their use in attempting to break the sound barrier and thus, liquid fueled rocket engines were substituted. These "rocket planes" were couched within the government program known as the X Series of aircraft. The X-1 came first, piloted by the famous Chuck Yeager who officially broke the sound barrier in 1947. As each successive airplane was developed and flown, the reach for higher speeds was well underway. By the late 1950s, the X-15 made its debut and promised the highest speed yet for manned aircraft: Mach six, or six times the speed of sound. After successful glide drops, the day for the first rocket powered flight approached and the chief test pilot for North American Aviation, builders of the X-15, Scott Crossfield took to skies, carried aloft under the wing of the B-52 mother ship on 17 September, 1959. Flying over the prescribed 480-mile test route from Nevada to the deserts of Southern California, Crossfield pushed the button and ignited the XLR-11 rocket engines, and history was made. The X-15 went forward with the new NASA and flew 199 test/research missions in its decade-long career. Not only flying faster, it also flew higher, actually reaching the edge of space. Pilots who attained this altitude were awarded astronaut wings. Of the several pilots who flew the aircraft, two future astronauts made their own history flying the craft. One was Joe Engle, someday-Shuttle commander, and the other, a young, sharp Navy pilot named Neil Armstrong. Flying the varied research profiles brought not only invaluable experience to these two pilot-astronauts but also put them on the map for selection into the space program. Armstrong's great repute rewarded him the job of landing the Lunar Module on Tranquility Plain.
8. Craig Kodera Fifty Years a Lady $0.00 Fifty Years a Lady The DC-3: no other airplane has revolutionized air transportation, flown as many hours, served with as many airlines or flown in continuous service as long. Stemming from the earlier Douglas designs of the DC-1 and DC-2, the DC-3 production lines ran a scant ten years but produced 455 airliner versions and well over 10,000 military versions. "In my painting," said Craig Kodera, "I strove to evoke a sense of warmth, nostalgia and romance. Never have so many stories been written about a single airplane; never has on airplane been so much a part of our consciousness. It seems that everyone, at one time, has flown in a DC-3. This painting is for all of them. As unique as the airplane is, so too is the painting. My goal was to capture not just the airframe but indeed the spirit of aviation which is the Douglas DC-3.
9. Craig Kodera MOONLIGHT INTRUDERS $495.00 It's 1968. The war in Vietman is being waged with all the technological might available to a Western nation. In the South China Sea, located at "Yankee Station" off the coast of North and South Vietnam, lies part of the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet. Tonight, two Grumman A-6A Intruders from Attack Squadron VA-35, the Blank Panthers, launch from their home carrier, the "Enterprise," to wage battle with forces of the North. On this night, tropical rain has given way to the moon above and the flight crews are now flying by visual references and their altitude instruments which are glowing with the red night lights on the panel. The North Vietnamese radars are sweeping the sky for targets. Peasants will fire hand held rifles at the passing noise of the fighters. Anti-aircraft guns and SAMs lurk around the next bend in the river. But for now, all is tense quiet. One more moment to gaze at the beauty which is flying. It's really paradoxical, something as stunningly lovely as flight, mixed with the arresting starkness of war. Many are the combat veterans who found themselves questioning the validity of their perceptions.
10. Craig Kodera LOOKING FOR NAGUMO $0.00 It is the third of June, 1942. It's first light over Midway. The American Navy had been decoding the secret transmissions of the Japanese. The last message intercepted before the enemy changed its codes was what amounted to the full battle order and operations plans for the Japanese attack on Midway. The long and the short of it was that the U.S. knew roughly where they were going to be, at about which time but it was a pretty large area. "Roughly" is the key operating word. The Navy sent up planes in a fan operation from Midway where there was a detachment of bombers, torpedo bombers, scout airplanes and patrol airplanes. Of all the aircraft that went out for a couple of days in a row, only one finally stumbled across the Japanese fleet. This Consolidated PBY-5A had taken off from Midway at about three in the morning and Jack Reid, the commander, spotted the fleet at about 10 a.m. Reid's crew radioed ahead and this enabled the combined forces to engage the fleet and conduct the Battle of Midway in such a way that the Allies won.
11. Craig Kodera The Battle off Samar, Philippines 1944 $0.00 The Battle off Samar, Philippines 1944. A Diptych (both images)
"In Harm's Way
0724 hours: destroyer USS Johnston fires her ten torpedoes at the IJN cruiser Kumano to begin the Battle Off Samar in the Philippines. Captain Ernest Evans of the Johnston promised the new destroyer would sail "In harm's way" at her christening ceremony in October 1943. He made good on that promise when he charged the Japanese battleship and cruiser lines through rain squalls while making smoke to cover the escort Carriers of Taffy 3. Johnston records multiple 5-inch and torpedo hits on Kumano and knocks the cruiser out of the battle. Engaging four battleships, six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and fifteen destroyer, Johnston was massively outgunned versus her enemies. The ship was hit immediately after her torpedo attack by 14- and 8-inch enemy shells. Nonetheless, Johnston continued her attacks for two hours before succumbing to enemy fire. Near the end of the engagements, a Japanese destroyer sails slowly by and her captain renders a hand salute to the Johnston for her actions. Captain Evans received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his valor guiding his destroyer "In harm's way".
"Against Overwhelming Odds"
At 0700 hours Lt Commander Robert Copeland addresses the crew of his destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts with these words: "This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can". So begins the Battle Off Samar for the 1,350-ton ship, armed with only two 5-inch guns and 3 torpedoes. Sailing into battle against four enemy battleships, each weighing up to 65,000 tons and armed with 14 to 18-inch guns, cruisers with 8-inch guns and ten torpedoes, plus fifteen destroyers, the little ship faces a nearly insurmountable task. Roberts closes to 4000 yards against four enemy cruisers displacing 16,000 tons each at 0753 and launches her three torpedoes against the cruiser Chokai scoring one hit and numerous 5-inch gun hits inflicting heavy damage on the enemy. Roberts continues to fire 5-inch shells and make smoke in defense of the escort carriers of Taffy 3 until 0851 when she is struck by 8-inch cruiser gun fire and then 14-inch shells from battleships. Roberts founders at 1007 hours with the loss of 89 crew. For her incredible action against the enemy Roberts earns the title: The Destroyer Escort that fought like a Battleship!
