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STRICTLY
G.I.
43-37594
B-17G
91/323
OR-O
 This
was
another
of
Tony
Starcer’s
artworks
that
utilized
the
Sad
Sack
character
created
by
Sgt.
Baker
in
‘Yank’.
His
art
and
title,
Strictly
G.I.,
cleverly
portrayed
the
very
thing
that
nose
art
rebelled
against,
the
uniformity
of
the
Military
machine,
by
emphasizing
the
military
style
of
listing
its
equipment
and
men.
Sad
Sack
was
painted
holding
up
a
sheet
that
was
headed
“Shipping
Ticket”
and
listed:
“1
ea.
B-17G
Fortress
Flying,
4
ea.
Fans
Cyclone
Wright,
13
ea.
Irons
Shooting
Cal.50,
9
ea.
Chutes
Para
Jumping,
9
ea.
Members
Crew
Assorted
....
Shipped
to
Uncle
Sam”.'
Strictly
G.I.
arrived
at
Bassingbourn
on
10th
June
1944
a
few
days
after
the
invasion
of
Normandy.
Ground
crew
wasted
little
time
in
preparing
the
ship
for
combat
and
it
was
ready
for
its
first-sortie
three
days
later
to
bomb
the
airfield
at
Beaumont-sur-Oise.
From
then
on
the
plane
set
a
cracking
pace
throughout
the
remainder
of
June,
July
and
August.
By
5th
September
it
had
accrued
30
missions
with
a
succession
of
pilots
and
crews.
In
mid-July,
Strictly
GI
had
flown
four
consecutive
missions
to
Munich,
although
on
the
final
occasion
the
weather
forced
a
diversion
to
Augsburg.
On
9th
September
Strictly
GI
was
flown
by
Neils
Jensen
and
the
crew
of
Dale
Burkhead.
The
target
was
the
Opau
synthetic
oil
plant
at
Ludwigshaven
and
the
formation
was
escorted
by
140
Mustang
fighters
for
protection.
But
the
escort
was
of
no
value
in
protecting
the
bomber
stream
from
the
very
heavy
and
accurate
flak
that
surrounded
this
important
target.
After
bombing
through
the
overcast,
Strictly
GI
was
caught
by
a
burst
of
flak
that
tore
into
its
No.
4
engine
and
sent
a
streamer
of
flame
trailing
back
towards
the
tail.
1st/Lt.
Jensen
struggled
with
the
controls
and
pulled
the
plane
away
from
the
formation,
headed
north
for
about
three
minutes
and
went
into
a
lazy,
flat
spin.
Soon
after,
it
dove
towards
the
cloud
layer
below
and
exploded
into
huge
orange
fireball
from
which
only
two
chutes
were
seen
to
open.
All
those
in
the
rear
of
the
ship
were
killed
but
those
in
the
front
survived
to
spend
the
rest
of
the
war
in
captivity.
"Story
taken
from
Plane
Names
&
Fancy
Noses,
by
Ray
Bowden"
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