WWII veteran's artwork lives on at museum

  • Published
  • By Army Sgt. Catherine Talento
  • Air Force News Agency
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AFNEWS) --  American servicemembers have always carried little reminders of home. From cards, to pictures, letters and journals, holding onto the little things helped them pass the time away from family and friends while serving their country.

In 1944, 23-year-old machinist mate second class Hal Olsen packed a set of paints in with his gear when he boarded a Liberty Ship bound for the Pacific. His goal was to paint the splendor of the Pacific Islands, but his friends laughed, telling him it was a waste of money. One fateful day would change not only their opinion, but Olsen's life as well.

"The shed where the previous nose artist worked, it got hit by a Japanese bombing run," Mr. Olsen said, "so he got put out of business."

Mr. Olsen stepped in, volunteering his time and paint in creating works of art on the nose of aircraft. By the time he finished his first piece of nose art, the word had spread throughout the island and he found himself with a lucrative side job.

"The first piece I did for free. But the guy who used to do the painting, he was charging $50. I did the first one and then there was a line of crews waiting, they all wanted a girl on their plane."

Mr. Olsen's days were now spent between his two jobs. In the morning he would paint nose art for arriving crews. In the afternoon he would fix planes for the Navy.

"As soon as they arrived, they all wanted to get something because then it looked like they had been there for a while," Mr. Olsen said. "The art was good for morale. We didn't have contact with our girlfriends or wives, there wasn't any e-mail, but they found nose art gave the crews the morale to fly the bombing missions, the reconnaissance missions around the Mariana Islands and all throughout the Pacific."

The most popular request of aircrews was pin-up girls.

"I painted more than 100 of those girls," Mr. Olsen said, "I also painted the pilot's names and the tail gunner's name."

For each piece Mr. Olsen charged the crew $50.

"I was making $78 a month Navy pay," Mr. Olsen said. "I didn't draw any Navy pay the whole year. I had to pay a swabbie $10 to get a money order so I could send money home. I was making so much money, people were suspicious I was gambling."

After the war, he took his new wife Estelle on a three-month, paid vacation with the $5,000 Mr. Olsen earned. The money he earned also paid for formal art school. The couple settled in New Mexico where Mr. Olsen went to work for the government as an artist.

Last week, the 87-year-old Olsen returned to the Pacific once more as guest of the Pacific Aviation Museum here. In honor of the 65th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo, Mr. Olsen was recreating one of the nose art pieces flown by Lt. Ted Lawson, one of the pilots involved in the raid. The piece called "The Ruptured Duck" was a symbol held in high esteem by World War II servicemembers.

"The Ruptured Duck referred to a patch (later a pin) worn on the uniform of returning veterans," explained K.T. Budde-Jones, Pacific Aviation Museum director of education. "It meant they were being discharged and said, 'I'm not AWOL, I'm allowed to wear this uniform until I get my civilian clothes.' And of course everyone wanted one because it meant you were going home. The patch was of an eagle in a wreath, but everyone thought it looked like a duck, a ruptured duck."

"It was quite historic to maintain, to maintain the treasures of the past," he said. "We are so quick today to throw things away, to dispose of or fast forward through thing. So when you preserve it like they are doing here, they are preserving what happened. If you try to rewrite history, you'll never get it right."

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