One local artist is using his talents to help our nation’s veterans. He discovered his talents just a few years ago, and now he’s devoted to a new mission in life.
“I grew up as a boy during World War II and I’ve always loved airplanes,” Kerm Dyer said. “I retired in 2000 and I probably started painting about five years after that.”
One of Dyer’s first works began because he knew a man who had flown a B-17.
“I decided that I’d do a watercolor of the B-17. It was a wonderful guy at our church who I knew had flown one, so I called him up and I said, ‘Ray, would it be okay if I painted your markings on this B-17?’ I painted it, and then when I got done I decided, you know, I couldn’t do that, keep that for myself. I gave it to him.”
Dyer’s passion isn’t just for the aircraft themselves. It’s the men who piloted them who are really his inspiration.
“Whenever I’m around those guys, I almost get teary-eyed because, you know, like the guy that I was telling you about, that first painting, you know he was flying a B-17 when he was 22 years old. A lot of these guys went from driving a tractor to flying a bomber or a P-51, and I don’t know. I’m just in awe of them.”
Another work focuses on Hugh L. Mills, Jr., one of the most decorated pilots during the Vietnam War.
“Hugh Mills is a real hero. You know the Vietnam veterans just don’t get their due. He flew three tours I believe in Vietnam. He was shot down sixteen times; he was wounded three times; he was awarded three Silver Stars; four Distinguished Flying Crosses; three Bronze Stars and some other medals. So I’m painting his Cayuse. I want to get it right. I want it to be meaningful to them. I’m hoping it’s close enough that he’ll like it.”
Dyer also sells and auctions off his paintings to help various veterans’ charities and organizations, among them Tuskeegee Airmen, WASP, and Honor Flight.
See more of Dyer’s work at his website.
