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http://lunalyn.com/lj/soldier.jpg
This statue was made 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.
This artist was so grateful that the Americans liberated his country; he melted 3 of the fallen Saddam heads and made a memorial statue dedicated to the American soldiers and their fallen comrades. Kalat has been working on this 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.
Want to know why we don't hear this in the news? Because it does not have the shock effect that a flashed breast or controversy of a political race.
According to the Army News Service (ARNEWS), the text reproduced above is a relatively accurate description of the statue shown in the photograph accompanying it.
In July 2003, two statues of Saddam Hussein, which an Iraqi sculptor named Kalat had a hand in creating, were removed with explosives from outside a palace complex in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, Iraq, where the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division headquarters group is located. The 555th Engineer Group cut up the bronze statues and shipped the pieces to Kalat, who - using a photograph of 1st Sgt. Glen Simpson as a model - spent several months fashioning them them into a likeness of an American soldier kneeling to mourn a fallen comrade, while a young girl reaches out to comfort him in his time of grief.
According to ARNEWS:
The sculpture is based on a scene many in Iraq have witnessed in one form or another.
A Soldier kneels before a memorial of boots, rifle and helmet - his forehead resting in the hollow of his hand. Behind and to his right stands a small Iraqi girl with her hand reaching out to touch his shoulder.
The statue evokes emotion. The girl was added to the statue to remind people of why the sacrifice was made, [Command Sgt. Maj. Chuck] Fuss said.
"It's about freedom for this country, but it's also about the children who will grow up in a free society," he said.