WWII Nose Art Story

[Forgotten Field]

Anybody know which B-17 this was? I'm wondering what she looks like in 1944.... BTW, this is not a contribution to the gun debate...

Armed Miss America 1944 Stops Intruder
By Associated Press
1 hour ago
Venus Ramey is shown with her dogs Tuesday, April ...
WAYNESBURG, Ky. - Miss America 1944 has a talent that likely has never appeared on a beauty pageant stage: She fired a handgun to shoot out a vehicle's tires and stop an intruder. Venus Ramey, 82, confronted a man on her farm in south-central Kentucky last week after she saw her dog run into a storage building where thieves had previously made off with old farm equipment.

After winning the pageant with her singing, dancing and comedic talents, Ramey sold war bonds and her picture was adorned on a B-17 that made missions over Germany in World War II, according to the Miss America Web site.

Whole story below:
http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?c ... issamerica

[Steve Nelson]

Don't know about a B-17, but I know there was a B-24 named "Miss America 1944." I replicated the nose art (based on a blurry photocopy) for a club member..he was related to the pilot, and was building a 1/72 model for him.


SN

[Fouga23]

B-24 "miss America '44"
http://www.b24bestweb.com/missamerica44-2.htm
http://www.b24bestweb.com/missamerica44-3.htm
http://www.b24bestweb.com/missamerica44-1.htm
Couldn't find anything about a B-17

how she looked in 1944:
http://www.missamerica.org/our-miss-ame ... 0/1944.asp

[L. Thompson]

VENUS RAMEY was a B-17G-90-BO, 43-38492 that was assigned to the 353rd BS of the 301st BG at Lucera, Italy on 12 October 1944. It returned to the USA on 10 July 1945 and ended up at Kingman that November.

I have some book references I can send you or scans.

PM me an E-mail address. I am out the door to go out of town right now for a few hours.

[Steve Nelson]

http://www.b24bestweb.com/missamerica44-1.htm

Yep..that's the one. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the finished model. I helped him with the markings research, and used my artsy-fartsy skills to paint the noseart on decal film. The pic I worked from was a fax of a photocopy..nothing more than a white silouhette, really..so I had to use a little imagination doing the artwork.

From the article on Miss Ramey:

In her honor her picture was adorned on a B-17 fighter plane, which made 68 sorties over war-torn Germany and never lost a man. The story made the Associated Press.

I think they were probably referring to the -24 (a bomber, not a fighter)..although the pic of Miss America's scoreboard shows 130 missions!


SN