'Eyes of Freedom' exhibit to be shown for first time at National Veterans Memorial and Museum

After multiple showings at the Ohio Statehouse, portraits of 22 Marines and one Navy Corpsman of Lima Company who lost their lives in 2005 during the war in Iraq are being shown for the first time at a most-appropriate venue, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.

“Eyes of Freedom,” large oil portraits of the mostly Ohio soldiers who died, created by Ohio artist Anita Miller, continues through May 30 at the Downtown museum. Two or three soldiers are presented in each of the eight panels, while placed in front of the paintings are candles, plaques with the soldiers’ names and their boots.

The 23 soldiers — part of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, and almost all of them reservists — died during a five-month period, casualties when their vehicles hit explosive devices or killed by small arms blasts.

The loss was staggering for Ohio. Miller, 61, who attended Columbus College of Art & Design for a year but describes herself as a largely self-taught artist, said the idea to paint the Marines’ portraits came to her in a vision.

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“I wanted to do something but the last thing I wanted to do was to insert myself in people’s grieving,” she said while walking through the exhibit at the museum.

She met with the Lima Company families, who offered her photos and memories of their soldiers, who were between the ages of 19 and 30 when they died. She spent more than two years creating the paintings and arranged for the exhibit premiere in 2008 at the Ohio State Capitol rotunda.

Since that time, the exhibit has returned to the Statehouse five times and has been shown elsewhere in Ohio as well as throughout the country. “Eyes of Freedom” has been to 32 states with more than 300 showings.

Today the exhibit not only memorializes the 23 soldiers but also acknowledges ongoing struggles for veterans, including post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal tendencies.

Included in the exhibit is Miller’s “Silent Battle,” a bronze sculpture of a sitting soldier, slumped forward as he touches the dog tag of his comrade who didn’t make it. A basin surrounding the soldier holds hundreds of dog tags with names of fallen soldiers or messages of grief and hope written on them. At the museum, blank dog tags are available for visitors to add their words.

The exhibit also includes a map for soldiers and veterans to place a magnet on locations where they served.

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One of the Lima Company soldiers who was wounded in 2005 but made it home was Michael Strahle, a Westerville resident and native of northwestern Ohio. Strahle, 20 at the time, was in one of the vehicles that hit the explosives.

“I was hurt very badly, with shrapnel wounds to my legs and shoulders. The blast threw me from the vehicle and that’s probably what saved my life,” Strahle said.

Strahle had retired from the service when he saw the first exhibit of “Eyes of Freedom” at the Ohio Statehouse. He was looking at the faces of his fallen friends — an emotional and immensely moving experience, he said.

Later he reached out to Miller, wanting to be a part of the exhibit and in 2012, joined the project. He is now the nonprofit organization’s executive director, scheduling tours and events.

“I’m blessed to be involved with this,” Strahle said.

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At a glance

“Eyes of Freedom” continues through May 30 at the National Veterans Memorial Museum, 300 W. Broad St. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission: $17, or $15 for senior citizens, $12 for college students, $10 for ages 5 to 17, free for age 4 and younger. Free to U.S. military veterans, active-duty military and Gold Star families. (Admission to the museum is free Memorial Day weekend, Saturday through Monday, May 28-30.) Call 614-362-2800 or visit nationalvmm.org.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 'Eyes of Freedom' exhibit continues through May 30 at Veterans Museum