Vietnam, A Tour of Duty

 

As an artist and a historian I have tried to find images and topics that are inspiring to the public. When doing artwork on the United States Military, all a person has to do is to read the Medal of Honor Citations to find outstanding American Heroes. The question came to my mind one day as to who was the first Medal of Honor recipient during the Vietnam War. The answer and this art piece is the result of that question. The art piece is called, “Vietnam, A Tour of Duty.” The individual is Col. Roger H. C. Donlon.

 

 

When I started the planning for this art piece I had written to Col. Donlon, and asked if he had a photo that he would allow me to use in this project. He was kind enough to send me several to choose from and I chose this one.

 

 

I think one of the most prominent images that had come out of the Vietnam War was that of the helicopter. In doing this art piece I knew I wanted to incorporate it into the piece.

 

 

As Col. Donlon was the first recipient of the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War, I used this image from the back of his book, “Beyond Nam Dong.”

 

 

When I frame my art work I like to incorporate patches into the framing and matting. It tends to bring more color into the art piece. On the right side of this art piece I used the “Vietnam Veterans” patch.

 

 

On the left side was placed the “United States of America” patch.

 

 

I had the pleasure of meeting with Col. Donlon and his lovely wife Norma at their home. Col. Donlon was nice enough to sign the art piece that I had done on him.