George Chandler Honored with Open House

The First National Bank in Pratt held an open house on Monday, May 1, 9 to 11 a.m. in the bank lobby to honor George T. Chandler, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of First National Bank in Pratt. This feature event was to honor George, a World War II "Ace" Fighter Pilot, and to unveil the painting TWO ZEROS FOR BARBARA ANN, by artist Roy Grinnell which illustrates one of George's WWII combat missions.

"Two Zeros for Barbara Ann", by artist Roy Grinnell

Cliff Neve', a close friend of George's, commissioned Roy Grinnell to paint TWO ZEROS FOR BARBARA ANN. Grinnell, who is nicknamed the "Artist of the Aces", is well known for his aviation paintings, as well as his Native American paintings. Grinnell painted TWO ZEROS FOR BARBARA ANN to commemorate George's WW II efforts. The painting is now on display in the lobby of the bank. If you were unable to attend this special event, please stop by today to view TWO ZEROS FOR BARBARA ANN.

About the picture:

George Chandler grew up in Wichita and enlisted as a fighter pilot before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He piloted P-38 fighter planes over the Pacific Ocean, out of air bases on Guadalcanal, and earned the title of “Ace” for shooting down five enemy planes.

Following is an excerpt from a story Chandler told about a chance encounter he had in 1950:

“So, one day I was new here in Pratt and I was at the country club getting acquainted with people and met this young guy that was my age sitting across the table and everybody was talking about the war, because it was just not very long ago. So I said to him, ‘What were you doing during the war?’ ”

“ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I was an infantryman,’ and he said, ‘my first combat was going ashore at Empress Augusta Bay at Bougainville Island on Nov. 8.’

“And my ears stood up because it was Nov. 8 when we had the big fight over the beach. And so I said, ‘Well tell me about that.’

“ ‘And he said, ‘Well, we were all standing on deck – the deck was just solid with men carrying their equipment to go down the rope netting on the side of the boat.’

“And he said, ‘Up above I saw these two dive bombers head straight down for us. And I knew if they put a 500-pound bomb into that deck full of men, they’d kill us all. And there was another ship just like us.’

“And he said, ‘I just knew we were all done. And then I saw this P-38 come down like a bat out of hell and shot them both down.’

“And he said, ‘God, I was so thankful.’

“He said, ‘I’d sure like to meet that guy and shake his hand and say thank you.’

“And I stood up and put my hand out and said, ‘I was the guy who was flying that P-38.’ ”

About the artist:

Preserving Aviation History on canvas is Roy Grinnell's forte' and it has brought him worldwide recognition as an aviation artist of the highest caliber. Roy's documentation of aerial combat events has given him the honor of being the official artist of the American Fighter Aces Association and he was made an Honorary Ace in 2004.

Roy’s oil paintings are on display at the Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA; Commemorative Air Force Headquarters, Midland, TX; Naval Air Museum, Pensacola, FL; The United States Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH; The National Aviation Hall of Fame, Dayton, OH; The Polish War Museum, Warsaw, Poland; and the Normandie Niemen Museum, Les Andelys, France.

Roy's works hang in many private collections around the country, and in the permanent collections of Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Pueblo, CO; Museum of Albuquerque, City of Albuquerque, NM; Cheyenne Old West Museum, Cheyenne, WY; Booth Museum, Georgia; Pearce Art Collection at Navarro College in Corsicana, TX; U.S. West, Denver, CO.

On the 60th Anniversary of the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, Roy and his wife Irene went to Pearl Harbor to attend a Reunion of Survivors of the USS Arizona. Roy did an oil painting of the USS Arizona moments before it exploded and the prints were signed by 18 Survivors of the USS Arizona.

Roy's camaraderie with legendary Aces has provided a unique and valuable learning experience as Roy goes to great lengths to accurately portray a specific combat. Roy's aviation art has appeared in editions of Naval Aviation News, The Foundation Journal, Aviation History Magazine, Flight Journal, on book and magazine covers, in feature articles, and in various aviation related books.

Clifford G. Neve’ is the Secretary of the American Fighter Aces Association and a member of the Friends of the Fighter Aces. Because of his great admiration and respect for George Chandler, he commissioned Roy Grinnell to paint TWO ZEROS FOR BARBARA ANN. The original painting will be gifted to the Museum of Flight in Seattle.