On my way to Chicago last weekend, we stopped to get some gas in Dixon, IL. The childhood home of Ronald Reagan. I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot to snap this photo, thinking that it summed up our American war efforts perfectly. Defending the American way, as they say.

As I took the picture, one of the soldiers waved at me, erasing any of the artistry and irony in my mind. It humanized him. Made me feel shame for looking at him as a subject. A joke. That simple wave reminded me they were men. With children. Wives. Mothers they’d cry out for in the mountains and deserts.
I felt like a snarky, New York artist completely detached from the realities that these men face. But how can any of us know the realities of this war, when no one. NO ONE but these families are making any sort of sacrifice. For the average American, our lives have not changed.
I waved back at the soldier. Gave him a salute. Then drove my family to Chicago for a weekend of relaxation, while these men were on their way to months of unrest and brutality.

We’ve lost 5543 American soldiers, and 38661 have been wounded/paralyzed/dismembered/burned/maimed and broken. Not to mention the incalculable mental scars. Why are these wars now so acceptable with Obama in office? Do we now have a different definition of victory? It’s time to bring them home. It was time years ago.