The morning sun glared off the brick as Dillon Krueger climbed a scaffold in Genoa, the smell of fresh paint thick in the air. He balanced a bucket at his feet, then swept the brush in long, confident strokes of red. White followed, then blue, until the stars and stripes stretched the length of the building – a flag not made of cloth, but of paint and precision.

“It was one of my best experiences,” Krueger said. “So many people stopped to talk to me. Being able to share my work with them is part of the reason why it’s so meaningful to me.”

Krueger, a Columbus native and Army veteran, works in two seasons. When the weather cooperates, he’s on ladders and lifts painting murals on public walls in towns such as Genoa and Columbus – flags, eagles and Husker scenes meant to live where people eat, drink and gather. When winter pushes him indoors, he shifts to children’s books he writes and illustrates through his company, Real Patriot Publishing, inspired by reading to his sons.

Long before he had lifts and ladders, Krueger was the kid sketching cartoons at home.

“Mom would always hang up any of my paintings or drawings that I did at school,” he said. “My family was really supportive from the beginning.”

That interest continued into high school, and after graduation, Krueger enlisted in the Army. He trained at Fort Benning, then served with the infantry overseas, including assignments in Germany and a 2011 deployment to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Even in uniform, his art followed him. Near the end of basic training, he was sketching tattoo designs for others in his unit when drill sergeants turned it into a competition. He painted a big skull with a sword and a snake wrapped around it, and his painting was selected as the winner.

That painting led to more requests. Commanders asked him to paint murals inside company and battalion buildings, work that demanded precision, speed and the ability to finish under watchful eyes.

When his service ended, Krueger brought those habits home with him.

Back in Columbus, Krueger split his time between bartending and studying graphic design. A local restaurant, Reg’s 7 Mile Steakhouse, commissioned a large mural honoring Husker legend, his first major public project in Nebraska.

More commissions followed. He painted the American Legion in Columbus, then Micek’s Bar, followed by projects in Rising City, Genoa, Silver Creek and Schuyler.

Today, his summer work plays out in public. Flags ripple across storefronts. Bald eagles spread their wings against Nebraska skies. Football players are frozen mid-stride. The murals become part of the everyday backdrop in the towns that commission them.

In winter, the scale changes. Krueger trades scaffolds for a desk and turns his attention to children’s books shaped by evenings reading to his three sons. His books are sold directly through PatrioticKidsBooks.com and through retailers including Amazon, Target and Walmart.

In Why We Stand, a bald eagle guides a young boy across the country, introducing the history behind the national anthem. Why We Pledge Allegiance focuses on the words children recite in school, explaining the pledge’s origins and the symbolism of the American flag.

“One night I was reading to my boys, looking at the illustrations, and I realized this was something I was capable of doing,” Krueger said.

After that realization, he taught himself digital illustration and built the characters around his own family, bringing his sons to life on the page.

The same patience and discipline he relies on while painting large public murals carries over to the smaller, quieter work done at a desk.

Krueger’s murals are more than decoration. They reflect the discipline and pride shaped by years of military service.

Whether the work stretches across brick walls or fits between book covers, the message stays the same: pride, tradition and service.