If you’re driving along Highway 41 in Tennessee anytime soon, you’re likely to come face to face with an M1A1 Abrams tank. Mind you, we’re not talking about an actual armored vehicle. Rather, it’s artist Don Olea’s bold depiction of America’s most fearsome main battle tank painted on the exterior of the American Legion Post 45 in Greenbrier.
Olea has spent the past few months at Post 45 designing and painting a scene that’s right out of Operation Desert Storm. His 17-by-37-foot mural shows U.S. Army soldiers on patrol, walking alongside a massive Abrams tank and a Stryker armored personnel carrier. A Chinook helicopter and an A-10 attack aircraft are seen flying top cover.
Olea will be on hand for the official unveiling of his new mural at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025 at Post 45, 2730 US Hwy 41 South in Greenbrier. For Olea, a U.S. Army veteran, the project was a labor of love. But it was also a massive undertaking – he had to move into the Legion Post and sleep on a cot in order to finish his mural by Veterans Day. Olea’s full measure of devotion for military art impressed us, so we decided to ask him a few questions about his project.
What inspired you to paint this massive mural at American Legion Post 45?
Don Olea: Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center Executive Director Cheryl Strichik inspired me do it. I exhibited my military art at Monthaven in August as part of the MACC’s Veterans Art Show, and I had another Monthaven-sponsored exhibit at the Charlie Daniels Center at MTSU. Cheryl must have been impressed with my work because she asked me if I’d be interested in creating a mural at the Greenbrier Post. I hadn’t done a mural in 45 years, not since I was at basic training at Fort Benning (U.S. Army post in Georgia). The drill instructors liked my work and persuaded me to create a black-and-white image of Rambo. But this mural is much larger and complex. I showed Post 45 Commander Terry Wilson my design idea, and he loved it. So, despite the extreme summer heat, I got to work.
How did you come up with this specific design, which is so realistic it looks almost like a photograph from the Iraq War?
DO: In truth, the mural doesn’t represent any specific event or battle. I created this image to covey the impression of troops on the move. You see troops moving into battle with an M1A1 Abrams tank and a Stryker. There is also a Chinook helicopter along with an A-10 Warthog. Post Commander Terry Wilson was in the Marines, and at one point he has wondering if we could include some sort of ship or naval vessel. Obviously, there was no place in this scene for a ship, despite the mural’s size. It’s a big work, by far the biggest I’ve ever created.
Tell us a little about your process. How did you figure out the proportions?
DO: I worked from a grid system. Each two-inch square in this grid equaled two feet on the building. By working with this system, I was able to maintain the exact proportions from the original sketch. So, the mural turned out to be perfect.
Did you have any collaborators on this project?
DO: I did all of the artwork myself. But MACC Healing Arts Director Val Adams did help me with painting the background. We each grabbed a roller and painted from one end of the wall to the other. We were doing this when it was incredibly hot. In fact, it was so hot I had to put off a lot of the painting until the end of September. So, to finish on time, I had to get a pillow and sleep on a cot at the Legion Post. But hey, compared with basic training in the Army, sleeping on a cot at the Legion Post was pure luxury.
What do you hope the public takes away from this mural?
DO: I hope it reminds people of the sacrifices made by our troops. I’ve been especially pleased with the reaction of military veterans. They are thrilled to see the art and have thanked me for sharing their story. The mural shows our veterans that people are thinking about them, and that’s very gratifying.
