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I created this illustration in honor of the veterans who have served and to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in both Afghanistan and Iraq. It is for the veterans of the United States Armed Forces and the multinational countries who served by their side. From the fierce mountain-terrain conflicts of Operation Enduring Freedom following the events of September 11th to the deserts of Iraq and Operation Iraqi Freedom and the demise of the Saddam Hussein regime. They came together to liberate the people of Iraq so that they too could one day live in democracy.
The illustration features the Swords of Qadisiyah (Hands of Victory) which are a pair of triumphal sword arches and that the soldiers often drove under upon entering the city of Baghdad. Also pictured is a mosque flanked by two rising minarets. Scenes such as this were visible in their daily patrols while battling the insurgents and battle-hardened Al-Qaeda operatives in combative firefights in places like Fallujah, Mosul, Kabul and the Khandahar Province. The troops could be seen thundering down and through the narrow urban landscape in their Humvees doing anything and everything to avoid coming in contact with IED’s. Others were sent into the vast endless desert planes and sand dunes in their M1 Abrams tanks, but with the watchful eyes above of the AH-64 Apache helicopters and the superiority of the United States Air Force.
America and the free nations of the world owe a debt of gratitude and thanks for your service when dutifully and righteously called upon. Freedom is not free. Like those before you and those who will follow, you have done your tours of duty to suppress the world from tyranny, terrorism and the axis of evil. We remember you, we honor you and we salute you.
Charles
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