Personalized nose art like 'Captain America,' seen here on the fuselage of a U.S. military helicopter in Vietnam, reflected the individuality and dark humor crews brought to their aircraft amid the stresses of war. Painted alongside a hand-rendered American flag, this artwork transformed a piece of military hardware into a symbol of morale and identity for the crew who flew and maintained it, a tradition dating back to World War II bomber nose art and carried forward into the helicopter war in Southeast Asia. Project: 218406