Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
When I was a little boy, wearing short trousers, we would persuade the man in the tall wooden box hut to lower the giant signal and then the next troop train would screetch to a halt.
Those GI's were so lively and friendly, throwing out gum and candy. This was our intorduction to two major learning lessons. 1. Was "bubble gum", this was juicy, made huge bubbles, but they could pop and stick over one's face and then 2. if older teenage girls lifted their skirts 6", the soldiers would scream their heads off and shout "Legs, legs". The girls that smiled back and bravely showed an ankle would get thrown nylon stockings!
Also it turned out that I married the daughter of one of those GI's! He was in Patton's army in the Battle of the Bulge and liberated several concentration camps. He told me of the bewildred free prisoners wandering in a daze at the site of American troops and they had to be careful not to make the sick by feeding them too fast.
So imagine my feelings when I heard that an airport that sent air Rangers to England during that terrible war, was being renovated and it emerges as a major Louisianna International Airport. I discovered that they wanted a gateway sculpture to welcome folk, one that was uplifitng and not divisive that would honor those who went to battle in the European Theater.
So here is my offering, Abandoned battlefields on a steel spiral with 3 beacon lights which can play colors according National events.
Asher Kelman: In homage: Battlefields
England Airpark, Louisianna
planned to be 60 ft high, steel ribbon would be 3 ft wide, Mirror Polished,
Battlefields will have actual remnants of battlefields
I hope all find this concept engaging and positive. The folk remembered, often volunteered at the prime of their lives for a cause that has stood the test of time. For more on the England Airpark, look here.
Asher
Those GI's were so lively and friendly, throwing out gum and candy. This was our intorduction to two major learning lessons. 1. Was "bubble gum", this was juicy, made huge bubbles, but they could pop and stick over one's face and then 2. if older teenage girls lifted their skirts 6", the soldiers would scream their heads off and shout "Legs, legs". The girls that smiled back and bravely showed an ankle would get thrown nylon stockings!
Also it turned out that I married the daughter of one of those GI's! He was in Patton's army in the Battle of the Bulge and liberated several concentration camps. He told me of the bewildred free prisoners wandering in a daze at the site of American troops and they had to be careful not to make the sick by feeding them too fast.
So imagine my feelings when I heard that an airport that sent air Rangers to England during that terrible war, was being renovated and it emerges as a major Louisianna International Airport. I discovered that they wanted a gateway sculpture to welcome folk, one that was uplifitng and not divisive that would honor those who went to battle in the European Theater.
So here is my offering, Abandoned battlefields on a steel spiral with 3 beacon lights which can play colors according National events.
![RangerArt7_Crossleft.JPG_smaller bsttlefields_800.jpg](/forums/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fopenphotographyforums.com%2F2017_AK%2FRangerArt7_Crossleft.JPG_smaller+bsttlefields_800.jpg&hash=0a9530d6a369581bf0dfd65bd39bc092)
Asher Kelman: In homage: Battlefields
England Airpark, Louisianna
planned to be 60 ft high, steel ribbon would be 3 ft wide, Mirror Polished,
Battlefields will have actual remnants of battlefields
I hope all find this concept engaging and positive. The folk remembered, often volunteered at the prime of their lives for a cause that has stood the test of time. For more on the England Airpark, look here.
Asher
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