®*1* |3orHanii O bserver August IO. 2011 Page 5 Veterans Find Peace by Making Art C ari H achmann T he P ortland O bserver by “ I live w ith the w ar every d ay ,” said D aniel Shea o f V eterans for Peace and curator o f A T enacity o f H ope, an art exhibit at Portland State U niversity. “ E veryday it’s in my head and I c a n 't erase it, but w hen 1 do this [art] I forget about it.” U sing art as a path to healing, veterans from W orld W ar II to V iet­ nam to present day Iraq and A f­ ghanistan displayed their w ork in conjunction w ith a four-day V eter­ ans for Peace convention held last w eekend in P o rtla n d . In neat rectangular fram es, disturbing and beautiful im ages and paintings by m en and w om en w ho once m arched into com bat and the living hell o f w a r w e re s p la s h e d across the w hite w alls o f the L ittm an G allery. Each artist told d if­ ferent stories o f co m ­ bat, but all the veterans shared the com m on’re- agent orange victim . He said he becam e a w ar resister after he lost his th ree-year old son to heart d is­ ease, cleft palate and oth er abnor­ m alities as a consequence to prior chem ical w arfare exposure. Like m any returning soldiers, he felt betrayed by the U.S. g o v ern ­ m ent. “T hey sent us to kill or be killed and there was a price to pay for th at,” he said. As visitors and locals gazed into th eex h ib it’sim ag eso fm ay h em co n - trasted w ith vibrant colors o f blood, bom bs exploding, arid landscapes. “ We are all wounded in some form, ” said Veterans for Peace artist Daniel Shea. His painting, Wounded Reflections: a Portrait o f Dave Cline, portrays the former president o f Veterans for Peace and founder o f the Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility group. sistance to war. Bill Bires, an elderly m an once drafted into the K orean W ar, said the art clearly i llustrates the uselessness o f re­ sorting to violence to solve problem s. A soldier with flowers as illustrated by “ Art gives them the Tomer Hanuka. opportunity to tell their story,” said Shea, w ho displayed child soldiers, and guns shooting tw o, big colorful w orks in the show . red flowers, other V eterans for Peace A s an escape, a distraction, “ the m em bers w andered in from a day o f process took m e aw ay from things sem inars and w orkshops. that plagued m y m ind.” M ichael M arceau o f K ensington, Shea is a V ietnam veteran and M d ., w ho w as critically injured in a 1970 rocket attack, said he resists Like other Veterans for Peace, he th e jo u r n e y , b r o a d e n in g th e ir w ar by enlightening students about advocates “toend these illegal wars” . know ledge o f oth er cultures, art, the “ reality o f life in the m ilitary.” For the survivors, returning home r e lig io n , la n g u a g e , a n d th e ir T hough he is com m itted to non­ from w ar is another hell o f its own; strength against such adversity. violence, his enem ies are the re­ whether suffering from physical inju­ The V eterans for Peace a d v o ­ cruiters w ho lure kids into jo in in g ries or post traum atic stress disorder, cates say soldiers that w ill return the m ilitary with unrealistic ed u ca­ the path to peace is not an easy one. hom e from Iraq and A fghanistan tion opportunities and false, rom an­ M ost often, form er soldiers find should look forw ard to being e m ­ ticized visions o f war. refuge w ith those w ho served b e­ braced by a com m unity that is w ill­ “ Recruiters are like salesm en,” he side them and other com rades o f ing to hear their story, w ithout ju d g ­ said, “They tell you everything, but war, w here they can rem em ber the ment. the true costs o f war,” said M arceau. good things; the people m et along “This is hope,” said Shea. 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