on this experience.
Since his retirement from the Marines in 2009, Fay has continued his mission to visually chronicle the effects of war on troops. As founder of the Joe Bonham Project -- a group named after the limbless, faceless character in Dalton Trumbo's antiwar novel Johnny Got His Gun -- he and about a dozen professional artists are now documenting the recovery experience of wounded service members through art.
Since the program's inception, the artists have sketched soldiers with everything from bullet holes and shrapnel burns to colostomy bags and missing limbs, primarily at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. So far, hundreds of works of art have been created, with gallery shows already presented at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and at Storefront gallery in Brooklyn, New York. This November there will be a show at the Pepco Edison Place Art Gallery in Washington, DC.
So how do these wounded warriors feel about having artists capture their ravaged bodies? Contrary to general assumption, Fay insisted the soldiers are not self-conscious about being sketched. He told the story of Specialist Derek McConnell, who lost both of his legs in combat. McConnell asked artist Victor Juhasz, "Do you want to see everything?" and proceeded to take off his shirt to reveal severe stretch marks, a bag, and wounds that had gone septic. "These guys understand why we are there, and they are really willing to open up to us," noted Fay.
In addition to sketching the service members, the artists also ask to hear their stories. Oftentimes family members are in the room, hearing for the first time how their loved ones were injured. "In a way, this is how we give them visibility, too," Fay pointed out. "We're not afraid of asking the tough questions everyone is afraid to ask…they want their sacrifice to count."
Fay wishes more people talked to troops about their experiences, instead of trusting video games or Hollywood to shape their perspectives on war: "I think culture is formed by storytelling, and these stories just need to be told."
-- Christy Crytzer Pierce is a writer and publicist in Fort Worth, Texas.