The Herald-Review (repeated at the Stars and Stripes) covers Dan McQuality, a Desert Storm veteran and Lutheran pastor who is making his mark recreating World War II era nose art:

McQuality, who serves as pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lincoln, had no idea when he sold his first nose art pictures that it would become a full-time business.

“It was just something I did for a hobby, and it blossomed into something more,” McQuality said.

The article notes the heritage and emotion the artwork invokes:

[McQuality’s] products often forge strong emotional ties with their customers, especially veterans who see their former service memorialized. Many veterans and their relatives send stories along with their orders, which the McQualitys enjoy.

It is no small irony that much of the nose art McQuality, a Christian pastor, recreates probably wouldn’t be permitted in the Air Force today because it might be deemed offensive.

As an aside, when he was in the Army McQuality apparently decorated Army vehicles during the first Gulf War:

He painted vehicle nicknames on M1 Abrams and M3 Bradley tanks, as well as pictures such as skulls and scenes of tanks in battles…

McQuality…drove an armored personnel carrier, cheerfully nicknamed Armageddon, during the first Iraq war.

Let’s see: Christian, driving an APC, painting the name Armageddon… Sounds like something about which a conspiracy theorist might get worked up, or even call “religious infiltration” of the US military…

Haditha Dam, Al Anbar, Iraq – The ‘New Testament’ a tank with 4th Tank Co., 1st Tank battalion attached to 3/25 prepares to lead the way during a recent mission. Photo by: Cpl. Ken Melton

(This image originally appeared in a Marine Corps release.  It was subsequently withdrawn.  Naming such vehicles is, or was, rather common.)

ADVERTISEMENT