The Creation of God Loves a Grunt

Abstract

INTRODUCTION I first met George L. Skypeck Jr (Sky) in the late seventies. His artwork and poetry was on exhibit as part of the “Forgotten Warrior Research Project” sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Center in Washington, DC. The project was created by Dr. John Wilson at Cleveland State University. I had met Dr. Wilson when I worked as a physician assistant (PA) in psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. He had invited me to attend a presentation of his research in traumatic stress and to see the art show that accompanied it. At the time, Sky was doing a number of DAV works and his poetry and art were used to illustrate Dr. Wilson’s study. This was the first Veterans Service Organization study focused on the post-traumatic stress aftermath of the Vietnam War. Sky and I soon became friends, and I often visited his studio located in a loft in the old Stars and Stripes building across the street from Union Station in Washington, DC. It was a great place to meet a number of the veterans who were just starting to become involved in Vietnam veteran issues. This group included Chuck Hagel, Ron Brock, Rusty Lindley, Jack Smith and others who were dedicated to helping veterans of the war in Vietnam. They would drop by the loft to chat about one of Sky’s new paintings. (Of course, we all gave Sky advice, which he mostly ignored but thanked us for anyway.) Sky is one of America’s most prominent military-historical commemorative artists. He is a combatwounded, disabled Vietnam veteran who rose from private to captain while serving two combat tours as a special warfare and senior intelligence advisor from 1967 until 1971. He is a decorated veteran, having won two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, three Air Medals, and numerous other awards. Sky has a special fondness for medics and created a piece of art titled “Nobody Forgets a Medic,” based on his being treated by an Army medic after being wounded the first of three times in Vietnam. Sky studied art at the Corcoran Museum in Washington and is a resident artist member of the famous Society of Illustrators of New York City. He has received numerous national and international art awards, including the prestigious Military Order of the Purple Heart’s George Washington Medallion of Merit. His last active duty assignment was to design and conduct John Wayne’s famous 1974 arrival into Feature Editor’s Note: