HERO OF THE PACIFIC: The Life of Marine Legend John Basilone. By James Brady. Published by John Wiley & Sons Inc. 272 pages. Stock #0470379413. $23.36 MCA Members. $25.95 Regular Price.

Semper Fidelis Exhibition at USMC Museum

September 21, 1966 - USMC - Republic of Vietnam - KIA.

Until recently, this is how I knew my father. A few scattered facts, flowers on his headstone at the cemetery, and stories told by my mother that I couldn't or wouldn't hear. For over thirty years it was easier not to talk about it, not to confront it, and definitely not to feel it. Only after becoming a father myself did I realize the significance of my father's sacrifice and the importance of coming to know him for myself and my family. The result of this quest has become a fine art exhibition which is on display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA. The exhibition will open to the public on Memorial day weekend (May 23, 2008).

Semper Fidelis: How I Met my Father is a mixed-media fine art exhibition which documents my quest to learn about my father, a US Marine who was killed in Vietnam in 1966. The exhibition which combines my work in the disciplines ceramics, photography and graphic design incorporates USMC reports, letters written by my father in the field and my own journal entries from Vietnam to tell this story.* Archival photographs of my father are combined with my own images from Indiana, Washington DC and Vietnam. This exhibition is not a political statement about the war in Vietnam. It is a statement of personal loss, of coming to know my father and how the effects of war resonate through not just one but several generations. This body of work does not merely represent my relationship with my father - it is my relationship with him.

While this story is intensely personal and specific to Vietnam and my experience, its message of loss and the resonance of war through several generations is universal. This story has taken on a timeliness when viewed in the context of the current conflicts and war. Unfortunately, another generation of children will be on similar quests in years to come searching for mothers and fathers lost in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

WHERE:
The National Museum of the Marine Corps
18900 Jefferson Davis Highway
Triangle, VA 22172 (map)
1 (877) 635-1775

WHEN:
May 23 - July 7, 2008

INFO:
http://www.tomhub.com/

http://www.usmcmuseum.org/index.asp

*Only two dimensional works and the sketchbooks from Semper Fidelis will be exhibited at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
The ceramic vessels and sculptural works are not included in this installation.