Those of you who've been sharing this journey with me for awhile will recall that I was promoted to Warrant Officer last December 1st by my nephew, 1st Lieutenant Richard "Joey" Fay, at the headquarters compound of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (2/7). We held our little ceremony at sunset and then returned to the battalion COC (command operations center). Within moments of entering the building frantic radio traffic began to flood the COC. All around the battalion's AO several other promotion ceremonies were also taking place, and at one of them an IED had just detonated with deadly and horrific results. Ten Marines were dead and there were scores of severely wounded.
My nephew, Joey, was the battalion adjutant....think of him as the human resources director. In his capacity as "adj" he was at the eye of the storm. He was up all night and well into the next day identifying the KIA and the WIA, doing all the necessary paperwork and initiating the chain of events that would eventually lead to families being notified of the correct status of their loved ones.
One of the Marines wounded that day,Lance Corporal Joseph M. Grady, is the subject of today's image. The other images is another of Winslow Homer's Civil War pieces, "Our Watering Places".
7 comments:
Interesting that Winslow Homer painted wounded warriors also - learn something every day. One of my young art students is very interested in the military since his grandfather, father, and uncle were all military men. I have shown my student your work several times to encourage him in both the military and art.
Once again, your a painting of Lance Cpl. Grady is awesome.
Awesome,awesome work. You are so very talented.
Thanks for continuing to take us on this journey.
Yer work is amazing, and the Homer pic shows the continuity of the struggle with those in the past.
Thanks again for sharing your works with the world! Walt Whitman served in the hospitals during the Civil War, you may find this of interest:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/hospital/whitman.htm
I know you are a very busy man, but I miss you when you don't post everyday. Your work is incredible. What do you think about Chavez at the U.N.?
Dear WO Fay,
Your writing, too, is incredibly moving. You tell the story so simply, yet so powerfully and with such beauty. The Marines are as fortunate to have you as we are to have the Marines. Thank you.
Julie Krauss
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