Hello from Arizona....

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

Freddie Cisneros

Freddie Cisneros

Recruit
7
6
Jul 18, 2016
My name is Freddie Cisneros I'm 69 yrs old, my father was with the 20th Army Air Force in Guam. He shared some amazing stories with me.
 
My dad's name was Tony Cisneros, from Brownsville ,Texas. His father was an artist and sign painter and he was artist and sign painter.
This will be important later. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Dad volunteered for the Army like many did at the time. He was just another GI private, doing jobs that most lowly GIs do. One day a Captain with a driver, pulled up in a Jeep and asked if he was Tony Cisneros my father replied yes and the Captain said get in. My Dad though he was in trouble but did as he was told. The Army Air Force was looking for artist, illustrators, press operators, photographers anyone with graphics back ground. Out of 300 or 400 people my Dad and a few others were assigned to the Army Air Force to work directly under the command of Curtis Lemay. They would be responsible for a monthly publication called the "Bomb Rack", also they also painted signs as needed for the base in Guam, nose art, truck lettering, flight scheduling charts and so on. When dad finally got settled in in Guam, he reported directly to Lemay. Dad said, Lemay pulled out a bottle of whiskey and poured them both a drink and proceeded to tell my dad what he needed him to do, and who to talk to if he needed any specialty supplies. My dad had a drink with Lemay!! Wow! More to follow.....Stand By.... .
 
So Dad worked at 20th Air Force headquarters for about 3 years until the end of the war. He would sketch and then paint nose art request from the crews on a small board and give it to the guys who would enlarge the design and do the actual painting. Dad and his artist friend Charlie Harris did cover art and cartoons for most of the "Bomb Rack" publications. The Bomb Rack was distributed to Air Force personnel in the Pacific. When time permitted, Dad and Charlie would make a few extra bucks painting leather jackets for the crews. Those two guys ended up in the commercial art business after the war. Dad said he was surrounded by officers at Command but the Art Department at HQ was Lemay's baby and off limits and everyone knew it. KP and guard duty, well nobody got out of those work details. I'll try and find a photo of 20th Bomber Command HQ, I know my Dad's lettering and layout style and I'm almost sure he painted it. Dad said there was scuttle butt about a new plane entering the War and it was a monster.
He said everyone on base was out to greet the B29s when they first arrived on Guam. Everyone was amazed at how
big these bombers where. When they would fly a mission it would take hours to get them all off the island. The dust covered everything. More to come.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Similar threads

D
Hello
Replies
6
Views
449
Crimea_River
Crimea_River
Karto
hello
Replies
8
Views
507
Crimea_River
Crimea_River
M
hello everyone
Replies
11
Views
590
Viking1066
Viking1066
MorrisOxford
Hello
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
fubar57
fubar57
psiclops
Greetings from Canada!
Replies
16
Views
433
psiclops
psiclops
Back