Veteran's Day #3

Veteran's Day #3

Oil  8" x 8" on cradled panel

$195.00 + $10. s/h

For the last three years I've painted this flag several times each year:  on Veteran's Day and one other national holiday.  It's Veteran's Day again and another great day to paint the flag.  I wrote about this flag and the Veteran's in my family then.  Here's the post once more:

This is the flag that my late dad, Oliver Sidney Johnson, received upon the death of his dad, Charles Thomas Johnson, for his dad's service to our country.  My dad passed it down to my son, Clinton Charles Holnback.  At some point I'll probably take it to the Veteran's Hall and have them fold it and pass it on to my son.  But, for now, I bring it out and paint it occasionally.  It's a great reminder of how lucky we are to live in this country.  Thanks to all of our Veteran's.

Saturday was the big Veteran's 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.

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 then 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 Patton 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 Chicago's 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.