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"We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail."
- George W. Bush, 2001
Artist Ray Simon is privileged to create a painting that honors the courage and the might of the American Armed Forces involved both here and abroad in the liberation of Iraq.
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Honoring Our Fallen Soldiers
The Operation Iraqi Freedom Fallen Soldier program started in 2003, was created to honor and commemorate our brave men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces who have paid the ultimate price for freedom. Ray Simon Art with Wilbert Funeral Services has donated over 2400 personalized lithographs to the families of soldiers who have fallen in the continuing conflict with terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Families Receiving Operation Iraqi Freedom to Honor a Hero |
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To the men and women currently serving stateside and abroad we salute you and thank most sincere. Thanks to our American soldiers, the Iraqi people are free from the tyranny of Saddam's fallen regime.
Featured in the painting is the United States Air Force flying in formation over the skies of Baghdad. A row of A464D Apache Longbow Helicopters storm over the desert skies in a search and destroy mission.
Leaving the flight deck of a carrier is a Navy A-6 Intruder en route to a combat mission. Centered in the painting is the fallen statue of Saddam Hussein symbolizing the end of his dictatorship of the Iraqi people.
An Iraqi child smiles while holding an American flag, hoping and dreaming of a free Iraq. A tank with Task Force 2-69 and a Hummer are silhouetted by a sunset during a more than 400 kilometer road march towards Baghdad. |
| Charging forward is the 4th infantry division seeking out the last remnants of the fallen Republican Guard. Operation Iraqi Freedom is the multinational coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people, eliminate Iraqˆs weapons of mass destruction, and end the regime of Saddam Hussein. |
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"January 12, 2004
Dear Ray,
Words cannot express how I feel when I look at your painting of Operation Iraqi Freedom with my son's picture included in it. Because I know that I will never give my son, Paul Sturino, one more hug it is very comforting to look at the picture you painted because it reminds me that he died for a very noble cause. Paul was only 21 years and 8 days old. He was so young and had so much to live for. Why do our children always have to pay the highest price? ... [ cont. ] |
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| ... [ cont. ] I
am very proud to display your painting, and very saddened, too. I will
tell you this; I'm very proud of my Son and all the other men and women
who are serving this great country! |
| I just wish I could hold him one more time. |
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In love and sorrow, |
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Dino Sturino"
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| " Once again, thanks so much for the print. Sometimes I can look at it for hours, just trying to be closer to Paul and to the life he had from March 2nd until he died. We have very few military pictures of Paul, so every picture is special. I especially appreciate how you fixed his picture from basic training graduation. That is our only picture of him in his Class A uniform." |
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Christine Wetzel |
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