Portrait preserves pilot's legacy

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Monique Randolph
  • Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Some see a handsome pilot gazing into the horizon. Others see a war hero, poised for combat. She sees her father, as strong and proud as she always remembered him.

Although Carol Ready had seen the portrait on magazine covers, heritage posters and military advertisements throughout the years, nothing compared to the sense of fulfillment she felt when she saw the original for the first time May 21, nearly 63 years after its completion.

"He looks so alive, and the colors are so vivid," she said of the painting of her father, Capt. Thomas H. Wakeman Jr., a World War II veteran and B-26 Marauder pilot. The portrait, titled, "O'er the Ramparts We Watch," now displayed at the United States Air Force Band's historic Hangar II on Bolling Air Force Base.

Mrs. Ready had tried to locate the portrait for years. Finally, last December, she received a call with information on its whereabouts. Five months later, she and her husband took a flight from Billings, Mont., to Washington D.C. to see the portrait in person.

"I can't think of a better place for it to be," she said. "The Air Force Band is just such a wonderful, wholesome part of the military. And my dad loved music; he played music all the time in our house. There was never an instrument he couldn't pick up and play."

Before meeting Mrs. Ready, the painting was simply a "fantastic portrait," said Chief Master Sgt. Joe Tersero, chief music librarian.

"This (meeting) just adds so much more depth and meaning to the portrait," he said.

Likewise, Mrs. Ready said she didn't know much about her father's service in the Army Air Forces before coming to Washington.

"Pop didn't like talking about the war," she said.

But, he kept meticulous records of his time in service. She brought with her more than 1,000 pieces of memorabilia ranging from his commissioning and discharge paperwork to the very bracelet he wore in the portrait, which he called his "good luck charm." He wore the bracelet every time he flew a mission, Mrs. Ready said.

While Mrs. Ready exchanged personal stories about the husband and father behind the man in the portrait, the Airmen present were able to sift through his records to get a personal look into the life of the pilot.

Capt. Thomas "Tommy" Wakeman served in the Army Air Forces from October 1942 to June 1945. He continued to serve in the Guard until 1949. According to his military records, he completed his tour in Germany eight days before D-Day. The portrait was done by Jes W. Schlaikjer, an artist who studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyons, France and the Chicago Art Institute. Mr. Schlaikjer, a U.S. Army Signal Corps WW I veteran, painted the portrait shortly after Captain Wakeman's return in August 1944. The artist passed away in 1982. Captain Wakeman passed away in 2000. 

The portrait is part of the Air Force Art collection. It was selected for use in the dedication of the U.S. Air Force Band Headquarters building in September 1995. 

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