By

George L.Skypeckâ

This painting, which has been on public display at Arlington National Cemetery since December 2001, depicts the terrorists’ attacks and events of “11 September, 2001” in New York City, Washington’s Pentagon, a Pennsylvania field , and the United States’ response to the War on Terrorism with the combat actions in Afghanistan against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the War to liberate Iraq, and the constant homeland security vigilance of America’s civilian and military forces, including those of the newly created “Department of Homeland Security.” Various military and security scenes are shown throughout the painting against the background of the American Flag and representative scenes of the heroes of “09-11-2001” in New York City and Washington, D.C., and a dual image of the two most important American statues which the artist calls the “Twin Sisters of Victory“ : “Armed Freedom” atop the US Capitol building of Congress in Washington, and the “Statue of Liberty” in New York City harbor---both witnesses to the attacks of that day. Below the statues are the medals which have been issued to those military and government personnel wounded or killed as a result of these attacks, the “Purple Heart” for military, and the “Defense of Freedom” medal for civilians, the two “War on Terrorism” medals, campaign medals for Afghanistan and Iraq and the “Dept.of Justice’s Public Safety Medal” for Police and EMT, and the special “Flight 93 Heroes“ medal.

A few items depicted on the painting (there are over 150 and counting) :American flag background; statue of “Armed Freedom”; “Statue of Liberty”; World Trade Center scene with NYFD, NYPD, EMTs in action; Pentagon with Arlington, VA, FD insignia; Armed soldier; Military District of Washington patch;F-16 from DC Air National Guard flying over Pentagon; Purple & Black mourning bunting of NYPD-NYFD merging into Purple & White ribbon for Pentagon losses; US Air strike responsiveness by B-1,-2,B-52, F-14, F-18, AC-130, KC-10 tanker aircraft; special operations forces and MH-47 Chinook helicopter; airborne parachute assault by SOC forces into Afghanistan and Iraq; US Navy aircraft carrier deployment to Middle East region and Persian Gulf region; various US military forces (Army, Marines, Coast Guard-cutter and bridge/port security, Navy and USAF) personnel; insignias of the VA, NSA, CIA, FBI, DOD, National Guard and Reserve forces; Department of Homeland Security; USMC, CENTCOM, 1^st -4^th MARDIV, SEAL and Special Forces insignias, 1^st Armored Division, 1^st Infantry Division, 1^st Cavalry Division, 2d Infantry Division, 3^rd Infantry Division, 4^th Infantry Division, 24^th Division, 25^th Division, 82d Airborne Division, 101^st Airborne Division, 173^rd Airborne Brigade, and every possible insignia of every major unit in the combat zones, especially those who have taken casualties. The entire 500 copy edition was donated by the artist to the Blinded American Veterans Foundation and its military WIA and KIA family assistance programs. The painting has been on loan display to Arlington National Cemetery since 12/01 and has been continuously updated to this date with the insignias of military units deployed, agencies involved in the GWOT and events and scenes, one being the addition of the Medal of Honor for SFC Smith of the 3^rd INF DIV in Iraq war, and the other for the Navy SEALs who received the MOH posthumously for Afghanistan(2007-08 update) and Iraq(2008). The painting was also updated with the The White House‘s “Gold Medal of Remembrance” for children of KIAs in the GWOT; images of the U.S. Capitol Building and the White House ( as they were the missed final targets on 9/11/1001); and the “POW-MIA Medal” for our MIAs in Iraq and from the previous Gulf War. Presently, it is the only TRUE WAR MEMORABILIA PAINTING OF THE GWOT and 9-11-2001. The completion of the painting will be when the GWOT is won. A special U.S. Post Office “First Day of Issue” cancellation of the “U.S. Marine Heroes” stamp was created and affixed to several prints. In addition, several army units insignias have been added, a C-17, UH-60, A-10, KC-135, OV-22, Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard agency insignias, and the Civilian Service Medal for the GWOT .This card shows the third style update of the painting prior to the present update in 2008.

COMPOSITION OF PAINTING: The original painting is acrylic paint on gesso wood panel, 32"x48" unframed.

CREATION & COMPOSITION METHODOLOGY: The painting was started by the artist immediately after witnessing the attacks against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in the Washington, D.C. area, in which the artist resided at this time. The background represents the American flag against images of heat and flames from the two centers of attack and the last impact area in Pennsylvania for the Flight 93 airplane that was diverted by a passenger attack against the terrorists causing the anticipated targets of the White House or the U.S. Capitol building to be spared. As a result, a special medal was issued to the next of kin to the "Heroes of Flight 93." In addition to these images being prominently displayed on the painting, the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, which bore witness to the World Trade Center attacks, and the Statue of Armed Freedom, which resides atop the U.S. Capitol Building, bore witness to the attack against the Pentagon and possibly against it and the White House. These two statues, which the artist has named the Twin Sisters of Victory, represent the best values ad power of the United States of America, its people and its armed forces...which are displayed as immediately responding with air, land and sea forces against the Taliban and its allies, Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan...and later Iraq, and worldwide in the new Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). The title which the artist chose states his, and all Americans' dedication and sacrifice to winning the GWOT...."Assured Victory.." means that no matter the length of this war, we will win against the terrorists because AMERICA was attacked on its shores, and Americans in its military and public service, as represented by the constantly updated military and civilian medals, unit patches, vignettes, seals, and equipment used to fight the terrorists worldwide,  will tirelessly sacrifice to bring about that victory no matter the cost....We will go to the gates of Hell to get these bastards! "De Oppresso Liber"!

GEORGE L.SKYPECKâ ã www.skypeck.com