The Homecoming

The words at the bottom of the painting say, “OUR FREEDOM COMES NOT FROM THE GENEROSITY OF THE STATE, BUT FROM THE HAND OF GOD”. The words that followed this statement originally were, “So Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, But What You Can Do For Your Country.”

The soldier is returning home. As he looks over at the picture drawn by his daughter nailed to a telephone pole with a yellow ribbon tied right below it, she writes “In God We Trust” and “I Love You Dad.”

Between the soldier and the town are ghosts of policemen, firemen and soldiers honoring him for fighting for what they gave their lives for.

One soldier was his buddy wearing the same deployment patch he is.

As your eye follows the four telephone wires towards the town then beyond, you’ll see four snow lines going up into the mountains. At the end of the lines are four F-16 fighters flying in the Missing Soldier Formation.

Between the 3rd and 4th jet is the 3 firemen raising the flag in front of the remnants of the twin towers in Manhattan.

To the right of the 4th jet are the soldiers raising the flag at Iwo Jima

On one side of the main telephone pole, in the mountain, is Mother Teresa, who gave her life to the poorest of the poor. On the other side is Dr. Martin Luther King, who gave his life defending Freedom.

In the snowiest part of the mountain, to the left, is the Pentagon. World peace is defended there daily. In flight, below the Pentagon is United Flight 93, on the side of the plane, in the immortal words of civilian Todd Beamer it says “Let’s Roll”

At the top of the mountain is the American flag again in the mountain and the sky with our nation’s symbol, the bald eagle soaring to great heights over all the sacrifices in the name of God, Country and Freedom.