In December 1993, Artist Keith Ferris And I Accompanied General Ronald Fogelman, Then Commander Of Air Mobility Command, Currently Air Force Chief Of Staff On A Whirlwind Mission That Included Many Countries Such As War-Torn Bosnia And Somalia. Our C-5 Flight From Cairo, Egypt To Mogadishu, Somalia Lasted 5 1/2 Hours. Upon Landing We Put On Helmets And Flak Jackets And The Were Whisked Into Waiting Blackhawk Helicopters, Their Rotorblades Spinning Rapidly. Machine Guns Aboard Were Manned By Desert Camouflaged Soldiers. On A Walking Tour Of Mogadishu Harbor Over A Sun-Parched Desert I Observed Many Things That Included Christmas Decorations Which Seemed Incongruous In This Sad, War-Torn Region Of Equatorial Africa. I Also Noted The Many Somali Natives Still Showing Signs Of Their Recent Starvation. In My Painting We Observe A Work Detail Walking Past Rusted And Worn Containers Festooned With Graffiti. More Somalis Are Working On The Roofs Of The Containers Moving Sandbags. Barbed Cancertina Wire And Sandbags Were Everywhere. On The Left We See Three American Soldiers, Their Guns At The Ready - Part Of The U Peace Keeping Forces. In The Background, On Final Approach Is An Air Force C-5 Coming Into Mogadishu Airport.
