This
statue currently stands outside the Iraqi palace, now home to the 4th Infantry
division. It will eventually be shipped home and put in the memorial museum in Fort Hood,
Texas. The statue was created by an Iraqi
artist named Kalat, who for years was forced by Saddam Hussein to make the many hundreds
of bronze busts of Saddam that dotted Baghdad.
Kalat was so grateful for the Americans liberation of his
country; he melted 3 of the heads of the fallen Saddam and made the statue as a memorial
to the American soldiers and their fallen warriors. Kalat worked on this memorial night
and day for several months.
To the left of the kneeling soldier is a small Iraqi girl
giving the soldier comfort as he mourns the loss of his comrade in arms.
MSG Phil Foster
Jamestown, New York
July 2004 |