VIETNAM

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VIETNAM

We lived in Wisconsin as the war in VIETNAM raged on. Young men were refusing to fight and running off to Canada. Others were marching off as they were drafted to a horrible encounter with death and destruction before they turned twenty. There were riots everywhere. Cities burned; police were vilified. Every night the television subjected us to the ravages of war, the hideous suffering of everyone involved. Men returned from the war not recognized as heroes; many were also vilified. The country was raging and divided against itself. Signs all over the world demanded that Americans go home. My midwestern values were challenged at every turn...and yet, many of us still smiled, still had comfortable homes, insulated from the physical horrors of war. I was blessed with a wonderful family - three children, loving husband, and a dog - which didn’t leave time for painting during the day. At the time I had a “studio” - (a few fluorescent lights overhead) in the basement and felt compelled to paint this painting at night whenever I could find the time. There didn’t seem to be anything else I knew how to do to release the feelings of guilt I had because in many ways I was happy even though the rest of the world was coming apart. It made it into a show at the Wustum Museum in Racine Wisconsin...then my husband was transferred, and I never had it on display again.