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In his Spotsylvania, Virginia studio, former Marine Corps combat
artist Kristopher Battles added a stroke of paint to a Marine Corps
Reservist's Gulf War-era helmet. On the 6-foot by 4-foot canvas
before him, the Gulf War Marine and his fellow service men and women
from 1916 through the present were coming to life, preparing to hand
the Marine colors to the reservist of the next 100 years.
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July 18, 2016 - Kristopher Battles, a veteran Marine combat artist,
works on the painting he was commissioned to paint for the
Centennial celebration of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in his
Spotsylvania, VA studio. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Adele Uphaus-Conner)
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“They answered the call,” Battles said of the Marine
Corps Reserves. “They played a big role in several of the
wars in which the U.S. was victorious. They bring a skill
set from the civilian world to active duty.”
Battles, who served as a Marine Corps reservist for 10 years, was
commissioned by U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) earlier this year
to complete a painting celebrating the command's centennial. On
August 29, 1916, with U.S. involvement in World War I looking
increasingly likely, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Naval
Appropriations Act of 1916, establishing the USMCR. The organization
grew from 35 Marines in 1916 to 108,000 today.
The oil painting depicts Marines in the uniform of each war in
which reservists served: World War I, World War II, Korea, the
Persian Gulf War, and the Global War on Terror in Iraq and
Afghanistan (they were not called into active duty during the
Vietnam War).
During World War II, reserve Marines made up 70 percent of the
520,000 Marines fighting in the Pacific. During the Korean War,
reserve Marines were recalled to assist in the landing at Inchon and
other battles, comprising 50 percent of the 1st Marine Division's
ranks. And since 9/11, more than 83,800 reserve Marines have been
mobilized as both warriors and peacekeepers in the desert conflicts.
“I was happy to be a reservist,” Battles said. “It was the best
of both worlds. I could go to school, be an artist, and be a
Marine.”
He chose the Marine Reserves because as a young man, he was both
“a history buff and a patriot.”
“I felt it was the best way to serve,” he said. Even after he
left the service, the Marines played a big part in his life. His
first date with his wife, in 1999, was to the Marine Corps Embassy
Security Guards' birthday ball in Haiti, where he was on a
missionary trip. In 2005, he found out about the Marine Corps'
combat art program and decided to re-enlist in the Reserves and be
mobilized to active duty as a combat artist.
He was deployed to Iraq twice and to Afghanistan, Haiti, and the
Philippines. In April of 2014 he left the service and now works as a
civilian artist for the Navy.
Battles said that coming up with a single image to represent 100
years of the USMCR was difficult. He sent several sketches to the
command for its input. He originally had the Marines passing off an
M16 rifle to their successors, but he decided to replace the rifle
with the Marine Corps flag.
“The colors represent more than just the martial part,” he
explained. “The colors represent tradition, history, heritage. The
Marine Corps definitely believes in passing on its culture and
values to the next generation.”
To prepare for the painting, present-day reservists posed in the
costumes of their predecessors (dressed by veteran Marine gunnery
sergeant and costume expert Tom Williams and his company, United
States Marine Corps Historical Company) and Battles photographed
them. He printed the photographs out in large scale and pinned them
to his easel to figure out the layout. Then he painted from the
photographs.
“This is the largest painting I've ever done on an easel,”
Battles said.
USMCR requested a bigger size because they intend the finished
painting to hang in the command's headquarters in New Orleans,
Louisiana. Battles said that painting on a larger scale has
presented some challenges—figuring out an appropriate stance, sore
arms from using them more than the wrists, moving back and forth to
get a good perspective on the whole painting—but they are challenges
he welcomed.
When the painting is complete next month, a custom crate will be
built for it and it will be flown in a military aircraft to
Louisiana.
Cori Parker, USMCR Centennial Project lead, said that art has a
place in a commemoration because it transcends words. “Being a
Marine and all that it encompasses is hard to articulate. It is more
of a feeling that resides in a Marine that includes: toughness,
grit, camaraderie, loyalty, resiliency, and esprit de corps. For
every veteran Marine, their experiences in the Marine Corps are
chiseled into their soul. Having an original piece of art created
for this commemoration will make this 100-year milestone memorable,
and serve to inspire Marines for the next 100 years,” she said.
“The Marine Corps has always felt strongly about its traditions
and it has a tradition of making art ...There is something about the
artist's hand that makes the work more alive. A painting focuses and
distills, humanizes and communicates. It has value both as an
historic object and as a piece of art,” Battles said.
The USMCR centennial will be celebrated through events planned by
reserve units across the country, Parker stated.
“It is [USMCR Commanding General] Lt. Gen. Rex McMillian's intent
to showcase the strong history of support that Reserve Marines have
provided to the active forces and their ability to be ready to fight
tonight,” Cori Parker added.
By U.S. Marine Corps Adele Uphaus-Conner
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
The U.S. Marines
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