This is the fifth and final part of Jon Harbuck’s series. – editor

Some of the most interesting questions I got about the piece concerned whether the soldiers should be marching from bronze into life or the other way around. Expanding on the James quotation, Dutch and I chose the former. (We had considered other quotations which might have led to the opposite choice.) Rather than an abrupt demarcation line, I pictured a gradual transition into full color — most of the figures in bronze to carry over the Monument theme, but the lead marchers beginning to come to life. As noted in an earlier installment, the bronze color mix is quite metallic. So I kept the “life” colors somewhat metallic in the transition areas, but painted full color everywhere else. Thus, the next soldier in file behind the “Morgan Freeman” NCO is mostly bronze, only beginning to come into color. The drummer is mostly colorized bronze. The legs and back of the NCO are bronze, transitioning to color, while his head, arms and torso have come into full color. The overall effect (the effect I was aiming for, anyway) is that of a “color halo” through which the file is march
ing into life. 


The slab of the original Memorial bears a Latin inscription which loosely translates, “He sacrificed everything in service to the Republic.” With the help of Francesca DeSimone — my go-to authority on all things classical — I reoriented the inscription toward the soldiers, so that now it reads, “They sacrificed everything…”. What more fitting title could Dutch have chosen to display the piece at Expo?
Thanks Dutch!
Outstanding!!!!
Very Impressive😎👍🏽