Monday, November 11, 2013

Veteran's Day #2


Veteran's Day #2
Oil 8" x 8"
25 off of 25
$149.00 + $10. s/h
SOLD 

(I'm offering 25% off of the next 25 small paintings!)

I posted a similar flag painting last Veteran's Day and decided to post another one this year...and maybe every Veteran's Day, who knows!  Below is the same information from that post also.

This is the flag that my dad received for his dad's service to our country.  My dad passed it down to my son.  I have painted and posted it before.

Saturday was the big Veterans Day Parade in downtown Colorado Springs.  We have a lot of Vets here as the military is a strong presence in the town with Fort Carson, NORAD, Peterson Field, Schriever Air Force Base, and the Air Force Academy.  Many Vets stay and make Colorado Springs their home and many Vets return to live here when they retire.  Monday is Veteran's Day with closures in all of the government buildings as well as our local schools.

I come from a family of Veterans.  I'll introduce you to some of them again this year:


This is my mom, Rosalie Phillips Johnson (1921-1971).  She became a pilot after college.  She served in WWII as a WASP, Women's Air Force Service Pilot.   The WASPs flew new planes from factories to embarcation air fields where they were either flown or shipped overseas.


My dad, Oliver Sidney Johnson (1920-2004), is on the far left in the back row.  He served in WWII as a radio operator and machine gunner on B-24s and B-17s in the 490th Bomb Group flying out of England.


My grandfather, Charles Thomas Johnson, (1890-1964) is the one circled.  He served in WWI and also was a Colonel in WWII.  This is General Patton's staff (you may recognize him in the front row.)  I can't imagine how it must have been for my grandma to have her husband and only child both in Europe during the war.  She also served our country as an ambulance driver taking soldiers from Midway airport to the hospital.


My husband Peter's parents were also Veterans.  They both served in the Navy.  This is their engagement photo.  My father-in-law, Peter Carl Holnback, was a fighter pilot in the Pacific.  My mother-in-law, Olive Hird Holnback, was a WAVE:  Women Accepted for Voluntary 
Emergency Service.


7 comments:

Debbi Smith Rourke said...

Awesome!! You rock - as does your amazing family. You favor your mom and Peter favors his dad. Funny how that works. :-) I'd love to share this on fb. I'll look for your post. Thanks for the best Vet's day post!!

Pam Holnback said...

Thank you Debbi! We should all be thankful for our Vets!

Dean H. said...

I love the great flag painting, Pam!
Your Mom was beautiful lady.

What an awesome serving family you have! It's amazing! Patriots all!

juliefordoliver.blogspot.com said...

What a terrific and patriotic family. This post gave me a feeling of warmth just reading it.
The perfect day to honor them. Thanks for sharing this with us all.

Pam Holnback said...

Thanks so much Dean. I knew that you would like this one!

Julie, Thank you. It's a fun time to share!

Unknown said...

Your mom was a WASP? That is amazing! Female military personnel today, and veterans like myself, have a lot to thank your mother's generation of military women for.
I love your military art !

Unknown said...

Your mom was a WASP? That is amazing! Female military personnel today, and veterans like myself, have a lot to thank your mother's generation of military women for.
I love your military art !