Daniel F. Ambia
Art and Society
Blog Post #6
05/20/2014

          At this particular juncture of my life, the most noteworthy cause for me would have to be Veteran's Rights. But in particular I would have to say I support the full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, a war that has dragged on for too long and cost too many lives on all sides of the conflict. I would like to create a memorial to the servicemen and women who died overseas but I wanted it to be a little different from previous memorial sculptures. I like the idea of a sculpture made out of bronze of a young person, not necessarily a male or female, but they would be wearing business casual attire and have a small child holding them around their ankle. The sculpture would be located near the Capitol Building in Washington DC, close enough for the congressmen who vote to send our young men and women to war to see the statue on their way to work. The caption on the base of the sculpture would read "FOR ALL THE YOUTH WHO WANTED TO BE SALESMEN, DOCTORS, LAWYERS, MOTHERS AND FATHERS, WE ARE FOREVER IN YOUR DEBT."
People forget that most Soldiers are pretty young and most of them do not have plans to retire from the military. A lot have dreams of attending college or going to work for the city/government in other departments or becoming professionals. I wanted this sculpture to play on the idea that sending young people to war robs them of their opportunity to lead full lives, even if they do come home in one piece many will suffer from the emotional scars of the conflict until they die. I would dedicate it to my 24 year old friend Jose who was killed in Afghanistan because I know he had other plans for his life that did not include the military.