GALION — The Galion Community Theater will host “The Eyes of Freedom: Lima Company Memorial” from July 1 through July 3.
The memorial was painted by Anita Miller in 2008, just short of three years after the news hit home: 23 marines belonging to the 3rd Battalion 25th Marine Regiment’s Lima Company and others were killed due to explosions in May, June, July and August.
According to the memorial’s website, Miller was inspired to paint the life-sized portraits after seeing them in a dream on showcase in the Ohio Statehouse. The dream became a reality when the project was unveiled in the Ohio Statehouse Rotunda in 2008.
“The main reason for creating The Eyes of Freedom was to heal family members and loved ones after suffering such loss in 2005, and now it travels as part of a much larger mission,” Miller said. The project took her two-and-a-half years to complete.
A 3rd Battalion 25th Marine Regiment’s Lima Company retiree, Mike Strahle, was one of the first to see the memorial at the Statehouse.
He contacted the artist and requested to host the memorial at a Veteran’s Support fundraiser he co-founded. Strahle has now become the memorial’s main proprietor.
The memorial’s website said Strahle was badly injured in an explosion that killed six of his squad members.
The memorial holds personal value to the ex-marine, and he believes it memorializes all who have served.
“There are many veterans in the are that have served proudly and I invite everyone to visit us during display hours to honor all branches of service — past, present and future,” Strahle said.
“Behind each portrait we feel the honor and sacrifice of the thousands of men and women who have served our country, in every branch of the armed forces,” reads the exhibit’s press release.
The exhibit will be available starting Friday and Saturday, July 1 and 2 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Sunday, the exhibit will open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
