"Pro Patria"

"Pro Patria" by Thomas Gilbert White is part of a mural located in the Oklahoma Capital building. It was commissioned to commemorate the end of WWI. This is the center panel, yet the two panels on either side list the names of every Oklahoma resident who died during WWI. Unlike the previous painting, it is the typical idealistic commemoration of the war. The painting depicts a soldier leaving his nuclear family to join the ranks of well equipped, healthy-looking soldiers who are guided by Lady Liberty herself, represented by the angel. Like most commissioned art, it makes no mention of the death and destruction caused by war. It is deliberately biased to show America as the hero -- supported by liberty and justice. It is this noble delusion of war as a heroic adventure that convinced soldiers to leave their homes and families. No one knew, before WWI what it mean to fight a modern war, since WWI marked the first. This mural is reminiscent of commemorative paintings of wars before and after this war. And, like the others, it depicts a lie.