Copyright George L.Skypeck,RegTM
SKY’s last official duty for the U.S.Army was ,while in the hospital being treated
for lingering combat wounds, was to design and execute the famous arrival of the
actor John Wayne into Harvard Square(Cambridge, MA, near Boston) atop an Army Reserve
M-113 armored personnel carrier in January 1974 as a Public Relations event carried
by national and international news media worldwide. After returning to the VA hospital,
he wrote his famous poem “Soldier” after an out-of-body experience there in 1975.
SKY created a very unique artpiece entitled “God Loves The Grunt” as a tribute to
his hero--the ordinary infantryman and soldier...It was done at his haunted old Stars
& Stripes Spanish War Veterans Building Washington studio(now raised and replaced
by the American Psychiatric Association building..Irony?). The painting traveled
the entire US in Vietnam Veterans Art shows and was signed by thousands of veterans.
It is a unique analogy to the entire life and experience of the common soldier in
any war, but specifically Vietnam. Here General Colin Powell, former Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State adds his signature to the painting
at the Pentagon.
