Military Author Radio

Military Author Radio, www.militaryauthorradio.comwith cohosts Tom Gauthier and Dari welcome our March 11, 2012 guest, a former WWII Airplane Nose artist, Mr. Hal Olsen.  Dari will be broadcasting from Albuquerque, and Tom will be hosting from Janesville, CA. Join us for our live broadcast, Sunday, March 11^th, at 8:00 EST. We accept calls from our listeners, or listen later to our podcast.

Artist Hal Olsen was a Navy Aviation Machinist, and after arriving in for his tour of duty in the Pacific in 1944, he also became famous in Tinian for his Airplane Nose Art.  Many grateful pilots paid fifty dollars for Hal to paint pictures of beautiful girls.  Hal tells us he’d have a good sized crowd of delighted Marines cheering him on as he worked.

Dari just visited the with Autumn Hicks, the Director of The Commemorative Air Force Airpower Museum in Midland Texas, and toured their collection of Nose Art panels, the museum preserves the largest American collection, which includes Easy Maid, one of Hal’s original Paintings. On the 60th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan and Tinian Islands, Hal and his wife Estelle were invited back to the Pacific Islands as honored guests, for a formal ceremony.  Three surviving crew members of the Enola Gay were also in attendance,  the Pilot Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbits, Navigator Theodore Van Kirk, and Weaponeer Dick Jeppeson.

Join Dari and Tom, with our guest Hal Olsen, for an interesting and historical program this Sunday, March 11^th, 2012.