Print Size: 31" x 19"

All prints are sold unframed
The Homecoming
- A Grateful Nation Awaits -
a fine art print by John D. Shaw
September 12, 1945 . . .
For countless American boys who sailed off to war in the Pacific, the Golden Gate Bridge was their last sight of home. Many would never return. Now, the veterans of WWII witness the joy of the nation they saved. A parade of watercraft escorts their convoy into San Francisco Bay while Corsairs of the "Black Sheep" provide an aerial salute. Stationed in California, the Black Sheep planes are factory fresh except for a war-weary model, used for training. Like the heroes below, this tired fighter will soon retire, its mission accomplished. America is free. No homecoming would be sweeter than this.
* screen colors may vary from print colors

Only 290 prints, signed and numbered by John D. Shaw, bearing between 14 - 16 signatures.

All Artist Proofs Include:
- Boyington's Black Sheep pilot Jim Hill
- Marine Sid Phillips, depicted in The Pacific
- Torpedo 8 pilot & double Navy Cross winner Gene Hanson
- Marine R.V. Burgin, depicted in The Pacific
- Cactus Air Force F4F pilot Sam Folsom
- Marine "Red" Womack depicted in The Pacific
- Corsair pilot Lyle Bradley USS Bennington & Black Sheep
- USS Enterprise Night Fighter Corsair pilot Bob Brunson

Package Includes:
Color COA with "History Behind the Art" story
Two historical photos* for framing
Reproduction WWII Pacific Theatre campaign ribbon

All prints are sold unframed
INTERNATIONAL
Artist Proof - 14 Signers
$495 + $55 express airmail

Artist Proof - 14 Signers
$495 + FREE SH
CO residents add 4% sales tax
*photo image size approx: 2.6" x 2.3"

Artist Proof - 16 Signers
SOLD OUT

Only 450 prints, signed and numbered by artist
John D. Shaw & at least 8 veterans including:

- Boyington's Black Sheep pilot Jim Hill
- Torpedo 8 pilot & double Navy Cross winner Gene Hanson
- Marine R.V. Burgin, depicted in The Pacific
- Corsair pilot Lyle Bradley USS Bennington (WWII)
& Black Sheep (post-war)
- Corsair pilot Darrell Smith who flew with the
famous VMF-312 "Checkerboarders"

Plus at least 2 other signers from our list below!

Package Includes:
Color COA with "History Behind the Art" story!

All prints are sold unframed
INTERNATIONAL
$295 + $55 express airmail
USA: $295 + FREE SH
(CO residents add 4% sales tax)

550 prints, signed and numbered by artist
John D. Shaw & at least 2 veterans. Now issuing:

- Marine Sid Phillips, depicted in The Pacific
- USS Enterprise Night Fighter Corsair pilot Bob Brunson

ALSO INCLUDES: Color COA with
"History Behind the Art" story

All prints are sold unframed
INTERNATIONAL
$195 + $55 express airmail
USA: $195 + FREE SH
(CO residents add 4% sales tax)
Our most signatures ever!

Only 190 prints, signed and numbered by artist
John D. Shaw & between 20 - 24 veterans including:

- Boyington's Black Sheep pilot Jim Hill
- Marine Sid Phillips, depicted in The Pacific
- Torpedo 8 pilot & double Navy Cross winner Gene Hanson
- Marine R.V. Burgin, depicted in The Pacific
- Cactus Air Force F4F pilot Sam Folsom
- Marine "Red" Womack depicted in The Pacific
- Corsair pilot Lyle Bradley USS Bennington & Black Sheep
- Black Sheep pilot Dan Holland
- Marine Richard Greer who witnessed
John Basilone's MOH action
- Pearl Harbor veteran Joe Lockard, detected attack on radar
- Aces Dean Caswell (7 victories) & Bob Maxwell (6 victories)
- Atomic Bomb B-29 crew Russ Gackenbach & Ira Weatherly

Package Includes:
Color COA with "History Behind the Art" story
Two sets of historical photos* for framing
Reproduction WWII Pacific Theatre campaign ribbon

SOLD OUT
Contact us to be placed on our waiting
list in case one becomes available

All prints are sold unframed
*photo image size approx: 2.6" x 2.3"
A Signer Proof edition of 100 prints, bearing assorted signatures, exists for print signers and helpers.
A Gallery Edition of 100 artist signed prints will be available for sale at special events.
A signed canvas giclee edition may be made available in the future.
What is the secret story behind John Shaw’s
“The Homecoming”?

The clue is found in the white clipper plane in the distance. But who is on that plane? And why are the Black Sheep Squadron Corsairs buzzing San Francisco bay?

The answer begins with the date on which this painting is set—September 12, 1945.

While America's fighting men return from the Pacific on ships below, a group of Marine pilots are gathering in San Francisco. Some are coming by train. Some by car. Some are flying in behind the controls of their Corsair fighters

They are the pilots of the Black Sheep Squadron.

During the war in the islands, their legendary leader, the hard-drinking, cigar chewing, brawler “Pappy Boyington” told them: “If you ever see me go down…I promise I’ll meet you in a San Diego bar six months after the war.” Pappy's intuition was right. He would be shot down, in January 1944, over Rabaul and taken prisoner by the Japanese. For the rest of the war, his pilots prayed he’d make it home alive.

Now, with the war’s end, “The Word” went out to the Black Sheep—Pappy’s coming home on a white clipper plane. This is the moment shown in John Shaw's "The Homecoming."

Instead of meeting him in San Diego, six months after the war the Black Sheep pilots have come to San Francisco to meet Pappy, now.

Soon, the Corsairs in John Shaw’s painting will land. The Black Sheep will gather to greet Pappy on the tarmac and hoist him onto their shoulders. Pappy will climb aboard the wing of the Corsair shown in this painting, to put stickers of small Japanese flags—victory marks, on the cowling of the engine, 26 plus two more for the two planes he never got to claim after he was shot down.

Tonight, at the St. Francis hotel in San Francisco, the Black Sheep will host a welcome-home party for Pappy. They will give Pappy a gold watch, inscribed from his boys. Life Magazine will cover the event and publish photos of men drinking alcohol for the first time, in difference to censorship and morals of the time.

Pappy and the Black Sheep will hoist many a drink on this night in celebration of their legacy and their lost friends. Even Pappy will admit, “I could not drink like I used to!” But that did not matter; the Black Sheep were together again in the nation they helped defend.

Like the Black Sheep, tonight’s party would be the party of legend.

   

Lt. Col. James Hill
An original member of the “Black Sheep” squadron, Hill flew Corsairs with legendary VMF-214 under the command of “Pappy” Boyington. With 70 combat missions during the two tours of the “Black Sheep,” Hill then flew a third tour of 30 combat missions with VMF-211. He is the recipient of 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses and 12 Air Medals.

 

Col. Dan Holland
Corsair pilot Dan Holland was a member of the famed "Black Sheep" squadron of VMF-214 during their third combat tour aboard the USS Franklin. Holland would also fly the Corsair in the Korean War where he commanded Forward Air Controllers during the Chosin Reservoir campaign. He would later fly two tours of duty in Vietnam before retiring with the Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and 15 other prestigious awards.

 

Lt. Col. Lyle Bradley
During WWII Bradley flew Corsairs with VMF-123 off the USS Bennington during the Okinawa campaign. In the post war years he flew with the "Black Sheep" and fought in Korea with the unit where he received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
   

Lt. Cmdr. Robert Brunson
Brunson served with the first carrier-based Night Fighter Squadron, VF(N)-101, aboard the USS Enterprise, where he flew F4U-2 Corsairs equipped with radar. Brunson flew throughout the South Pacific, including the Marshall Islands, Marianas Islands, and the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

 

Col. Dean Caswell
As a Corsair pilot in VMF-221 aboard the USS Bunker Hill, Caswell became an ace having shot down seven Japanese aircraft. After the war he flew with the Blue Angels before flying combat in Korea & Vietnam. Caswell is a receipient of the Silver Star, 3 DFCs and 7 Air Medals.

 

Commander Robert Maxwell
A Navy Ace with 6 victories, Maxwell flew F4F Wildcats with the "Sundowners" of VF-11 off Guadalcanal. He later flew F6F Hellcats with VF-51 off the carrier USS San Jacinto where he often escorted Avengers from their sister squadron VT-51, one of which was flown by a future President of the United States, George H.W. Bush.

 

Lt. Col. Darrell Smith
Flying F4U Corsairs with Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-312, the “Checkerboards,” Smith’s was a member of one of only three squadrons flying from Kadena Airfield during the Okinawa Campaign.
   

Lt. Col. Sam Folsom
Folsom flew F4F Wildcats with VMF-121 as pilot in Major Joe Foss' famous "Flying Circus" on Guadalcanal. Folsom continued on to participate in the Okinawa campaign, flying Hellcats with Marine Night Fighter Squadron VMF(N)-533. In 1998, Folsom foiled a bank robbery and landed himself on the Conan O'Brien show for his heroism!

 

Capt. Eugene Hanson
As a pilot flying TBD Devastators and TBF Avengers with Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8), Hanson was stuck in Hawaii when his squadron was wiped out during the Battle of Midway. When Torpedo 8 was refitted, he joined them on Guadalcanal, where he earned an incredible 2 Navy Crosses (second only to the Medal of Honor) and 3 Air Medals! Hanson is a main character in the book A Dawn Like Thunder about Torpedo 8. Read Hanson's Navy Cross citations here.

 

AOM3c Wiley Bartlett
A member of the legendary Navy Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8), Bartlett flew as a TBF Avenger turret gunner with pilot Eugene Hanson throughout the Guadalcanal campaign. Barltett is featured in the book A Dawn Like Thunder about Torpedo 8.
   

Pfc. Harry Bender
A machine-gunner with K-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (K-3-5), the Marine company featured in With the Old Breed and in HBO's The Pacific, Bender fought in the battle of Okinawa where he was wounded and received the Purple Heart.

 

Sgt. R.V. Burgin
Burgin was the squad leader of Eugene Sledge and SNAFU Shelton with K-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (K-3-5). Burgin fought at Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He was featured in Eugene Sledge’s classic book With the Old Breed and portrayed in the HBO miniseries The Pacific. Burgin is the author of Islands of Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific.

 

Cpl. James Burke
As a Marine in WWII, Burke fought as a mortar man with K-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (K-3-5), on Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa. Burke is a character in Eugene Sledge’s classic book With the Old Breed, where he is referred to by his nickname, “The Fatalist." Burke is also featured in R.V. Burgin’s book, Islands of Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific.

 

Pfc. Jesse Googe
Serving with K-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (K-3-5), the Marine company featured in With the Old Breed and in HBO's The Pacific, Googe was Captain "Ack Ack" Haldane's runner on Cape Gloucester and a rifleman on Peleliu, where he was wounded and taken off the line.

 

Pfc. Sterling Mace
A rifleman with K-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (K-3-5), the Marine company featured in With the Old Breed and in HBO's The Pacific, Mace fought at Peleliu and Okinawa.

 

Sgt. James McEnery
A squad leader with K-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (K-3-5), the Marine company featured in With the Old Breed and in HBO's The Pacific, McEnery fought on Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu.

 

GySgt. Thurman “T.I.” Miller
T.I. Miller enlisted in the Marines prior to World War II, earning him the honor of being called part of the "Old Breed." Assigned to K-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (K-3-5), he fought on Guadalcanal alongside men like Captain Haldane and Gunny Haney. Miller then fought in the Cape Gloucester campaign where he served as a Staff Sergeant, helping to command K-Company's third platoon.
   

Pfc. Sidney Phillips
Sid Phillips joined the Marines at age 17 and found himself fighting in the Pacific War on Guadalcanal as part of H-Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division (H-2-1), the same unit as Helmet for My Pillow author Robert Leckie. Sid has become internationally-known after his notable role in Ken Burns’ documentary, The War, and the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg miniseries, The Pacific and for his beloved memoir, You'll Be Sor-ree!

 

Roy Gerlach
Gerlach fought at Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester with H-Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division (H-2-1), the same unit as fellow H-Company Marines Robert Leckie and Sid Phillips.

 

Sgt. James Young
A three Campaign veteran, Young served as in the Mortar Platoon with H-Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (H-2-1). Young fought alongside fellow H-Company Marines Robert Leckie and Sid Phillips on Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu.
   

Sgt. Richard Greer
As a heavy-machine gunner with D-Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (D-1-7), Greer fought on Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Samoa, and New Guinea. A close friend of John Basilone, Greer was tasked with re-writing the first draft of Basilone’s Medal of Honor citation. Greer served as a consultant on the HBO series The Pacific, although he refused to allow his real name be used as a main character in the production.

 

Cpl. Charles “Red” Womack
A flamethrower operator with M-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Womack was depicted in The Pacific and Eugene Sledge’s book With the Old Breed. He participated in the invasion of Cape Gloucester where he got his nickname "Red" for the red beard he grew during the campaign. Next, he landed on Peleliu where he served as a flamethrower operator assigned to K-Company and later fought in the Battle of Okinawa.

 

Robert Addison
Addison was a mortar squad member with the elite 1st Marine Raider Battalion “Edson’s Raiders” fighting in the battles for Tulagi and Guadalcanal, including the Battle of Edson’s Ridge.

 

Marlin Groft
As a rifleman with the elite 1st Marine Raider Battalion “Edson’s Raiders,” Groft fought at Tulagi, Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and Okinawa.
   

1st Lt. Joseph Lockard
Stationed at the 934th Signal Battalion radar unit at Opana Point, Oahu, the morning of 7 December 1941, Lockard was the first American to see the approaching Japanese aircraft enroute to Pearl Harbor. While his forewarning went unheeded, Lockard had provided an early alert of the surprise attack that led to the United States entrance into WWII. Lockard is depicted in the movies Tora, Tora, Tora and Pearl Harbor.

 

2nd Lt. Russell Gackenbach
As navigator on the B-29 “Necessary Evil” as part of the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group, Gackenbach’s B-29 accompanied the “Enola Gay” as the photo plane on the August 1945 Hiroshima atomic bomb mission. The photo they captured is above, right.

 

2nd Lt. Ira Weatherly
As Co-Pilot on the B-29 “Straight Flush” as part of the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group, Weatherly’s B-29 accompanied the “Enola Gay” as the weather reconnaissance plane on the August 1945 atomic bomb mission that targeted Hiroshima, Japan.
Since Valor Studios began working with John D. Shaw in 2003, every project that
we have created together has sold out and now climbs in secondary market value.

Most people will never sell their prints. They will pass them down through family. But there's nothing wrong with knowing that your print is a commodity, one that other people want and that gains value every day.

Secure your copy of "The Homecoming" today, before it joins the ranks of these sold out classics . . .
John D. Shaw
JOHN D. SHAW
John D. Shaw has pursued his art and graphics career since 1985. Born in 1961, this native of Carson City, Nevada is a veteran of both the fine art and commercial art fields. As an illustrator, Shaw created artwork for clients such as Lucas Films Ltd., Kellogg's, and Major League Baseball.

Shaw's work took a new emphasis in 1993, when he began creating paintings with a historical theme. With special attention to the World War-II era, his depictions of these aircraft, people, and their missions have become celebrated, worldwide.

Shaw’s artwork hangs in the collection of President Bush 41, President Bush 43, the Cavanaugh Flight Museum, and private collections worldwide. His art has adorned the covers of magazines like Private Pilot's Aviation Art Gallery, World War II, World War II History, Aviation History, and Valor Magazine.

With the completion of "The Homecoming ," we are proud to have commissioned six epic paintings with our good friend and talented artist John D. Shaw!
John D. Shaw as he works on the Golden Gate
bridge in "The Homecoming" original.
Valor Studios and John D. Shaw wish to thank the following for their assistance with this project:
Larry Alexander, Bob Krause, Tim Landers, Scott Ramsey, and the distinguished veterans who made this print possible.