As I explained
in the introduction to this project, I've selected a different
era for each of the services. This is so that not only are all
the services honored, but the major conflicts of the 20th &
21st Centuries are also depicted.
For the Army I
elected to depict their contribution to Vietnam War. |
At the start of this project
it was decided that not only would all six services be represented,
but that each service would be depicted in a separate war, beginning
with World War II. From that moment, I felt that the U.S. Army
painting would have to be placed during the Vietnam War. I also
knew that it would be the most difficult one to create.
I wanted this painting to first and foremost honor the people
who served in that war. I remember the awful treatment of our
service personnel at that time and I wanted this painting to hopefully
ease a small measure of the pain caused by that treatment. I also
wanted the painting to show some of the adversities that those
same servicemen endured. I hope that "You Are Not Forgotten"
accomplishes at least some of both those tasks.
On a lighter note - Here's a small
anecdote from my research for this work.
As I was looking through photos from this war, I came across a
few pictures of the piece of equipment that you can see in the
upper center of the painting. It's called the Ontos, which is
Greek for "the thing". It's official name is Rifle,
106mm, Self-propelled, M50. It was a light armored tracked anti-tank
vehicle that was created to be transportable by air. I thought
it was a really interesting looking piece of equipment that would
be great to put in the painting. And I found quiet a few wonderful
photos from the period to use as reference material.
There was this small problem, though. All of the photos but one
showed the Ontos being utilized by the US Marines. I was doing
a painting of the US Army and wouldn't be able to use this piece
of equipment. But there was that one photo.
So I went on a search to find out who actually used this vehicle.
And I indeed found out that the Marine Corps used "the thing"
starting in 1956. And even though it was particularly liked by
its crews, the Ontos was always considered an "ugly duckling"
and was removed from service with the Marine Corps in 1969. At
that time some of them were given to the U.S. Army. The Army used
them until they ran out of spare parts. Then they removed the
turret and used them as fixed fortifications. Today, some of these
vehicles survive in tack and can be seen at various military museums
including the U.S. Army Artillery Museum at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.
With that information firmly in hand, I was able to use "the
Thing" in my painting. |
