A really quick update as things a bit hectic this week... A busy weekend (and many sore fingers) later, the Champ's two-tone grey interior is nearly installed. Aside from fastening a bit here and there, it's all coming together. The countdown to flying days is on! 

Please welcome Dan Sokolowski (who you may have seen in the skies piloting his Navy yellow Stearman)! 

While doing research for nose art ideas for our Stearman Blondie, we stumbled onto some interesting Americana known as the pin-up girl.  The term comes from attaching an image to an article that is posted our used to distribute information like a calendar.  It seems the concept started as far back as the 1890’s, with the Gibson Girl being some of the first widely produced and distributed – personifying the first national beauty standard for American women.  These images adorned almost anything in everyday life - soap advertisements, flour bags and match boxes (evidently sex sold back then, too).

In the 30’s, Alberto Vargas took the pin-up girl concept to all new levels by creating the Vargas Girl artwork that was found on movie posters and most notably Esquire Magazine.  These types of images, though not blatantly overly sexual – especially by today’s standards – still exuded charm and sex appeal of the “girl next door”.

The 1940’s pin-up usually involved its subject in some sort of activity of daily living that was experiencing an “oops” moment, like the breeze blowing up her skirt or her blouse coming undone.  These images made their way to the theaters of war by match book covers and magazines and consequently to the side of aircraft, tanks, jeeps and footlockers of the servicemen.  Many times, the art was replicated and applied by a guy in the unit who had some artistic skills and if they were good, payment was usually in the form of cigarettes or booze.  “Artistic freedom” was exercised and the pin-up was made a little racier.

Not all nose art was a pin-up girl; many were cartoon characters, simple names or some combination of the two.  This photo was taken by my Uncle, somewhere in France of the unit artist completing the work to Lon-Sum a P-47 Thunderbolt flown by Billie Snell, his best friend during the war.  Long live the pin-up.

Soko

The UPS guy (Annabelle loves him - she acts like he's made of T-bone) delivered a big box yesterday filled with none other but the tri-champ's new upholstery. Woot! The multi-tone grey colors are great, and Brian and I plan to start on fitting it into the tri-champ this weekend. If all goes well, the tri-champ will be airborne next week. Bring on the great flying weather!

This weekend, Brian and I went to my parents for an Easter lunch together. While we were sitting around, with full stomachs, my mother brought out my grandfather's World War II mementos. Growing up, my grandfather didn't speak of the war. I don't know if it was because of painful memories or if the folks thought it was too dark of conversation for children. But, especially now that he's gone, I really miss him and all that history he lived. At least not everything was lost with him.

The pictures and journals he kept were priceless. I learned that my grandfather - Sgt. Russell Gerdes was a bombardier on a B-29 with the nose art, "fu-kemal-tu" (the humor was not lost on any of us). He served in the Army Air Corps for over three years during the war in the 873rd in the 498 bomb group. In 1945, he received his discharge papers from the head of his division, Hap Arnold. Most of his war career was spent in the Marianas (the Pacific), and he noted in his personal journals that his most memorable mission was the Kobe night mission. What took place that night I'll likely never know since he didn't go into detail, but it clearly impacted him as a man.

We spent hours sifting through Grandpa's photos and journals. Soon, we plan to go through the airplane photos to get the S/Ns so we can research if any of the B-29s, Hellcats, and Jugs in his photos survived after the war. Not all the photos and journal entries were pretty, making a clear reminder that war is a whole lot more than comaraderie. Going through his mementos made me realize how I've lost someone who lived through something I've only seen in pictures and videos. 

As I learn more about his division and history, I'll share it with you. Likewise, if you know anything about his division or group, I'd love to hear it. If you know of a vet, don't wait until it's too late. If they're willing to share, learn from them. They've seen things we can only (and likely not want to) imagine.

Thank you for your sacrifices, vets!!