Lest we Forget – Real Heroes, all of them!

With the Japanese Skilled Veteran Corps in the news, http://bouhatsusoshi.jp/english and all the other troubles the world faces,  I got to thinking about how lucky we are as species. There are heroes the world over and they are usually ordinary people making extraordinary choices, in what are (mostly) very unusual circumstances.

I bow to the Skilled Veteran Corps with humility and gratitude, for it is not only their own nations people who are at risk here, but potentially the human race in it’s entirety. None of us know the true extent of future problems a nuclear disaster may cause. But these people do know the risk they are taking and are choosing to do it anyway.

Let us never forget those people, whose names we may never know, who have been somehow instrumental in changing our world for the better when no one else could or would want to. This led me to thinking about the following work I produced, which was a tribute to unknown heroes, I only hope the world will see fit to make sure there is a truly memorable tribute to these Skilled Veteran Corps in the future. 

As a proud supporter of Our Troops, I was inspired by a visit to RAF Cosford, to produce something that, for me, had some resonance with the actual people involved in the workings and history of these amazing planes. The High profile airmen are most often those acknowledged  individually but those folks who kept things going & working deserve to be recognised too.

This is my way of saying, “I see what you did, for me, mine, ours, and I appreciate it. Thank you!”

This is a piece I made using mono bock printing techniques with some, wax, Q-tips and white spirit thrown in the mix.

I made this after a visit to RAF Cosford http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/ a great place to visit, with or without children.

There are all manner of flying machines and other historical military vehicles. The thing that stayed with me most though, was the sheer volume of rivets/welds on the aircraft displayed. It really put into context how much use these planes must have had, how much damage, and how ingenious the human race is. the pattern was so random, as the replacement panels must have been, I felt an ode to the Riveters & Welders was in order.

rivets like bullet holes