Born: Farmingdale, Maine, 1949
Served in Vietnam, U.S. Army
Americal Division, 196th Light Infantry Brigade

From the artist:

I walked point on numerous occasions for the first six months and carried a radio for my last six months in the field. Our main mission was to make contact with the NVA (North Vietnamese Army). We moved nearly every day; most of my nights were spent scared and most of my days were spend scared, too.

In general, my paintings are not faithful reproductions of reality, but instead are emotional responses to the reality I witnessed. As time goes on, I find myself doing a lot of painting on the subject of war, not necessariy the Vietnam War, but wars in general. A significant part of my art reflects my experiences as a soldier but it is also meant to be a commentary on war and offers a personal vision on the emotional consequences of war.

I have always felt extremely lucky to have survived Vietnam; even after all this time, my feelings are intense. I am still very patriotic and believe in this nation, but there is no glory in war-- there is only suffering, mayhem and death.

To me, Vietnam was stunning-- and most of the time not for the good. I cannot say in words how this war felt to me. I will try to explain in my paintings:

"Point Man" is a guash and pastel on paper. I try to portray the emotions inside of walking point: The pressure is so great that it almost feels like freedom.

The painting, "Untitled," was the first painting I ever made. It is oil on canvas board. I was working from raw emotion with no training. I made this picture a few months after I came back to the world, a time when my nervous system was still in Vietnam. To me, it shows all there is about Vietnam. It portrays fear, horror, pain, and blood. It shows how your mind tries to distance itself from your body. It shows how combat eats away at your being. It displays stress as a body, and yes, the gun is empty. In the end, there is just a man, his mind, and his weapon.

I am proud of my service to our nation and I am proud of all the men and women who served in Vietnam.

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