Art of War: the Veteran History Project’s Agile Case Exhibit

Picture this: a tropical island in the Pacific theater, August 1944. A Marine, a demolition expert, encounters a rare moment of quiet as he waits to move to the front lines during the Battle of Guam. An art student before the war, he has continued to create throughout these altogether different circumstances. Amid the disorientation and dehumanization of war, painting and sketching offers a means of returning to himself. Art becomes a point of connection with his buddies; he often produces portraits of them to send home to their families. Pulling out his watercolor set, the Marine paints two comrades at rest nearby—one sitting hunched over his knees, the other in repose with his eyes closed. Their red-brown uniforms are highlighted against the green-blue shades of the jungle landscape. Their war weariness is forever captured on the paper.

More than 80 years later, the resulting watercolor painting is part of this Marine’s Veterans History Project Collection—and included in a new exhibit in the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building. Created by James Allen Scott, the watercolor offers a glimpse into Scott’s experience as both a Marine and an artist during wartime.

In addition to oral histories and original letters, diaries and photographs, the Veterans History Project (VHP) also collects creative works such as visual art. Veterans’ artwork vividly conveys their military experiences in a way that oral history interviews and other materials often cannot.

While some of these artists had training or a professional background in art before the war or created artwork as an official part of their duties, most did not. Using a variety of mediums, these veterans sketched, painted, and took photographs as a means of documenting their experiences and coping with the pressures of deployment.

If you’re in the Washington, D.C., area, we invite you to visit the new exhibit on the second floor of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building. But if you can’t visit us in person, we wanted to give you a quick tour of the exhibit through this blog post. Here are the eight pieces of art featured in the new exhibit.

Vincent Murphy enlisted in the Army in April 1918 and served in France and Belgium during World War I. While overseas, he wrote letters home to his siblings and often included sketches of Army life. After the war, he worked as a professional artist for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the New Deal in the 1930s.

Many of the creative works in VHP’s archive are portraits. During World War II, commercial artist Mimi Korach was dispatched to Europe by the United Service Organizations (USO) to sketch portraits of GIs recuperating in evacuation hospitals. Korach created this portrait of Corporal Charles Ulysses, who served in the 3413th Quartermaster Truck Company, in May 1945.

Along with drawings and sketches, many servicemembers express themselves creatively through photography. Sergeant George Mikey Mabe served with the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War. His collection includes 118 photographs depicting his daily activities while he was stationed in rear areas, away from combat. Many of these photographs, such as this shot of medic Jack Santos reading in his tent (June 1966), are poignant and artistic illustrations of the life of a combat infantryman.

During World War II, Henry Walker McIver sent letters to his family from Algeria, Italy and France. He began each one with a detailed sketch, describing his living conditions and interactions with local populations. In this letter, he included a drawing of his living conditions in Italy in June 1944.

Along with more traditional mediums, artistic servicemembers sometimes utilize unconventional canvases such as air mail envelopes. While serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II, aspiring illustrator Sergeant Samuel Boylston frequently decorated the envelopes that his buddy, Corporal Gerald Duquette, wrote home to his wife. By turns humorous and poignant, Boylston’s small sketches speak volumes about the typical experiences of everyday GIs during World War II.

Lieutenant Colonel William Dean Smock first deployed to Iraq with the Army in 2005, followed by a second deployment in 2008. An art teacher in his civilian life, he spent his off-duty time painting watercolors of the sights and scenes of his two deployments, including this portrait of an unnamed officer in uniform.

A lifelong adventurer, Lee Lane joined the military in 1991 to become a helicopter pilot. The first female helicopter pilot in her Illinois National Guard unit, she served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her collections include striking photographs such as this one, depicting a crew chief waiting to clear engines for a night flight, silhouetted against the setting sun.

Along with the artists featured above, a second case of the exhibit will explore the work of a single veteran artist, William K. Munro. Check this space later this week for a blog post focused on Munro’s work.

As the Veterans History Project marks its 25th anniversary, we reflect on the extraordinary collection of narratives and artifacts entrusted to us over the years. These stories, told through interviews, letters, photographs and personal mementos, form a powerful record of military service and sacrifice across generations.

To honor this milestone, we are sharing a 25-part blog series that highlights the voices of veterans, the individuals who shaped and sustained the project and the lasting impact these stories continue to have on families, researchers and communities nationwide. We invite you to follow the full series here and join us in celebrating the legacy and future of this important work.