Iraq War Memorial

Iraq War Memorial. . , SPC Luke P. Frist 209th Quartermaster Co., Lafayette, IN United States Army Reserve January 5, 2004, Ar Ramadi, Iraq, Marine Cpl. Bryan Scott Wilson 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment 1st Marine Div. 1st Marine Exp. Force Dec. 1, 2004, Al Anbar Province, Iraq, Army Spc. Matthew C. Frantz 1st Special Troops Battalion 1st Brigade Combat Team 101st Airborne Division MI January 20, 2006, Huwijah, Iraq, Army Cpl. Nathaniel S. Baughman 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment 3rd Brigade Combat Team 101st Airborne Division July 17, 2006, Bayji, Iraq, Army Cpl. Cody Putman 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) 25th Infantry Division, 40th Cavalry Regiment April 12, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq, Sgt. Andrew R. Weiss 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division May 3, 2007, Baghdad, Iraq , "Most Precious Offering". Created by artist, Saundra Whiddon, to honor the courage and sacrifice of all parents who from infancy held and nurtured the soldier and now, for the sake of other, must let him go. In the final goodbye, the parents exhibit purpose and unspeakable selflessness., The infant is portrayed as vulnerable and yet secure in the hands of his parents. He is swaddled in the American Flag. The hand of his father lifts him up with great determination and purpose; using his strength to hold the head of the infant securely for the entire journey. The mother’s hand, by contrast, forms a nurturing pose as she reluctantly and slowly lifts her child toward the heavens. The infant is simultaneously emitting a cry of victory and of separation with which the artist hopes to show the ambivalence even the bravest soldier feels when called to war. He clutches the American flag against his chest with one hand clinging to those things that are familiar. With the other hand, he raises his flag toward the Creator showing the courage that soldiers exhibit when they dare to reach higher than others!