This peice was an honor to paint, but perhaps was the most painful thing I will ever paint. It is in honor of the men of 1st Battalion 1st Marines who have died durring their 2006 deployment to Fallujah Iraq. I the artist, am part of the same battalion. These are my brother, my friends, my family. One of them I watched die, his pale face and blank expression still haunt me sometimes when I close my eyes. Another is the grumpy old platoon sergeant I acidently caught in the chest with a flying MRE durring a boring night of training two deployments before. Another was a very close personal friend. He watched me paint most of it commenting and criticing it, only to be added to the list of names I had to put on it before it was even done.

My imperfect human hands are incapable of producing a work worthy of these men, but I put my all into this peice. To those brave men who gave the ultimate sacrifice for honor and freedom, I salute you. May you look out for us and keep us safe on our way home.

EDIT:
I just found out they did an article on it on USMC.MIL
[link]