Loud Visions 2

Chapter 17

            Lincoln had several colored pencils in a wide variety of shades and colors. He was wearing an artist's apron. His hands were a little dirty, with pencil shavings and residue. Clyde, Stella, and his friends gathered in the art room to see Lincoln work on his next piece. It was really something, and it was big. It was a large drawing of soldiers, not just any soldiers. They were American soldiers who fought in every major war the US fought in, from the Revolutionary War to the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. They were looking toward the viewers.

The soldier from the American Revolutionary War was standing on top of a hill. He was wearing a Continental Army uniform with the blue and red coat that they wore. He had a tomahawk in his left hand, and in his right was his musket rifle, which he was using as a pole holding the American flag that was tied to it, like the cover of the second season of Turn: Washington's Spies.

An African American soldier in a blue Civil War Union uniform was just a little below the hill. He had a cavalry saber sword in his right hand, with the blade resting on his right shoulder and his rifle in his left hand. On the other side were two WWI soldiers. One looked like a regular infantry soldier with a flat helmet, and the other was a sniper. The sniper had a scoped Springfield rifle in his hands and a ghillie cape and hood. The infantry had his sleeves rolled up and an M1897 trench shotgun with a bayonet knife attached to it in one hand – he had his other arm over the sniper's shoulder.

There were two WW2 soldiers; one was a soldier of the 101st Airborne and the other a tanker of the 761st Tank Battalion – a.k.a. the Black Panthers or Patton's Panthers, the best tank division during WW2 and they were all African American which not many people know about. The Airborne trooper had a Thompson submachine gun in his hands while the tanker had his arms crossed while leaning against an M4A2 76mm HVSS Sherman tank. There was a Korean War soldier in his winter clothing sitting on a rock next to the other soldiers with an M1D Garand sniper rifle in his hands with the buttstock resting on the ground. There were more soldiers from the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghanistan War – each soldier had their weapon and uniform from that era. The soldiers were all slightly dirty and showing signs that they'd been in a battle. They all had serious expressions as they held their weapons or had an arm over each other's shoulders. Lincoln went the extra mile by doing his research to draw the uniforms correctly with the right gear, camouflage, weapons, and patches. On top of all of them were broken light rays from the sky and big words that said:

"Remember Us"

"Wow . . . Lincoln, this is stunning," Clyde spoke.

"The colors blend together so perfectly and so alive," Stella added in amazement.

The others were in awe. The drawing wasn't complete, and yet it took their breath away.

"Holy smokes, Lincoln. This is really something," Liam said with a smile.

"Yeah, this looks professionally made," Zach added with wide-open eyes.

"It's amazing," Rusty uttered.

"I wanted to do something big, both literally and metaphorically. That's why I had to ask Ms. DiMartino for extra-large paper," Lincoln replied.

Girl Jordan walked in, and like the others, she too was speechless. Lincoln's latest art took her breath away.

"I'm with them. This is astonishing. I have a question, though. Why soldiers? Is this for something or just what you felt like drawing?" Girl Jordan questioned.

"There's a big art contest coming up. Its main theme is Veterans for the Royal Woods Art Museum's new exhibit on American history. The first, second, and third place winners will have their art in the museum," Lincoln explained.