The Air Force has an Air Force Art Program and an Art Collection. The central purpose of the program is to document the Air Force story by telling the story through art–with sponsorship of artists’ trips to Air Force installations to cover activities and events. We were very fortunate to have two artists, Keith Ferris and Marbury Brown, deploy with us to tell and document our deployment and story through art.
Keith flew in the backseat of Paul Leming’s F-4E on the final two legs of the deployment while Marbury flew in one of the C-141s. Keith’s paintings, “Bad News for Uncle Ho” and “Mighty Big Shoes to Fill”, were created as a result of Keith’s joining us on our deployment. Marbury created “‘Arrival at Korat’ and ‘F-4 Squadron Names’ The 469th In Korat.” The ‘Squadron Names’ painting includes the signatures of all the Squadron members. Marbury also created sketches of several of the guys in the Squadron along with sketches while on the C-141 and at Korat. Marbury passed in 1997.
Keith and his wife, Peggy, have been very active in all of the Squadron’s activities and reunions and Keith has been able to borrow “Bad News for Uncle Ho” and “F-4 Squadron Names The 469th In Korat” from the Air Force Art Collection and bring them to a couple of our reunions.
Keith was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2012. The Mission of the Hall of Fame is: To honor America’s aerospace pioneers and memorialize and share their impact for the inspiration of leaders to come. From early flight to space travel, we strive to create a distinctive educational resource that will inspire future generations to appreciate our nation’s extraordinary aviation heritage and the men and women who created it.
More of Keith’s paintings from Korat
