John Paul Hornbeck says his "Shattered Soldier" sculpture took about 500-600 hours to build, and probably cost at least that much in supplies. "I went for realism," he says, "I wanted people to feel the psychological/emotional impact of being a soldier with PTSD."
The sculpture, shown here partially dismantled for shipment, head removed, was fabricated from an assortment of (inert) grenades, 50 caliber bullets, shrapnel, magazine clips, mini bombs, tank shells, mortars, and bomb fragments, for realism. Hornbeck says he's spent hundreds of hours as a child with his father, a Vietnam veteran, at the VA for treatment, listening to the stories of his father's generation of veterans, telling stories about the Vietnam war. Hornbeck himself served in the Army. He says, "Many soldiers have stories about a piece of shrapnel they carry in their limbs. That is why I used shrapnel to be part of the limbs in designing my soldier."
The sculpture is life-sized and at least as heavy as a real soldier. Hornbeck says that it includes "at least 200-300 .50 caliber bullet tips that were tumbled, cleaned, drilled and strung up on aircraft wire, with splices of barbed wire, to form the ribs. The torso is made out of a six-gallon gas tank. Brass tank shells form the legs. The tank shells couldn't be welded directly; instead, they were drilled, fitted with angle brackets, and welded to the mortar "feet" and ammo box "hip" at the base of the sculpture. The M-16 magazines were cut in half, length-wise, and drilled so that wire could be woven through them to stitch them in place as the shoulder and collarbones." "As you can see, the arms are grenades," he says, "Two dozen grenades that have been quartered and welded back together (so that they're fragmented, but also to reassure the public that there's no longer any powder inside.). The fractured head is made from a brass drum cymbal, which is shattered into at least 80 puzzle-sized pieces to resemble both shrapnel and skull fractures (typical combat injuries), each drilled with several holes so that they could be woven together with wire to form a type of chain mail. There are also more grenade pieces, mini bomblets, and the tailfin of a rocket." A side view of the sculpture, he says, "shows you where it gets its name: the fractured skull represents brain injuries." The legs bear many of the previous names for PTSD, "particularly in wars before it was diagnosed as a mental illness. Vietnam was really the first war that gave it a name and a treatment."
Hornbeck hopes that the sculpture succeeds in capturing what many soldiers experience when they return from war: PTSD, survivors' guilt, flashbacks. He says he was compelled to build it on receiving news of three comrades who'd returned from war and taken their own lives. Hornbeck wanted the sculpture to deal with "issues directly affecting our vets: like lowering their suicide rates and trying to re-integrate them into society when they return." Says Hornbheck, "these aren't new issues, they aren't propaganda -- these are issues that have been deal with in every way, though somehow people forget them after those wars are past, only to rediscover them again with the next war. This makes for a very poor learning curve for both society and the VA to have to deal with these same issues over and over again," separated by intervals with little continuity.
The "shattered" nature of the soldier portrayed, Hornbeck says, attempts to address the many injuries of war, seen and unseen: "PTSD, soldiers' suicides, TBI (traumatic brain injury), eye injuries, among others." "Veterans returning with these injuries," he says, "tend to get overlooked, or until elections are over, empty promises are made to veterans to take care of their healthcare. I made this to raise awareness of current veterans issues: I believe that mental health among our troops is largely getting neglected, as we hear of soldiers being redeployed into combat despite being diagnosed with PTSD, and being at risk to themselves and others." "So much for the screening process," he says. "There comes a time when you look at the military institution itself and the culture of masculinity it creates and reinforces, that doesn't enable guys to really approach treatment willingly, without criticism from their peers."
Hornbeck says, "This sculpture was created as a memorial for the living; and for those who died over there or returned as ghosts of the war, forever haunted with guilt and remorse from being witness to unspeakable things, and sometimes committing some themselves." He says his father struggled with PTSD, as he himself does. He says, "My father suffered PTSD from his time in Vietnam. Growing up, I witnessed his episodes and even went to the VA with him on several occasions, trying to get him help. I've known three soldiers who didn't receive the treatment they should have, after returning, and committed suicide." Hornbeck is aware that not everyone wells over with warm, fuzzy feelings upon seeing his sculpture, but many also say how it has touched them like no other sculpture they've seen. "This sculpture deals with intense veterans issues that sometimes make people cringe with discomfort, but it's the only way I've seen to highlight such difficult topics that are otherwise hard to discuss." "I created this sculpture out of elements of war," he says, "to show how the soldier becomes the war, even when they return." "It isn't something easily forgotten," he says.
Editor's note: See previous posts here and here on this artwork to learn more; go visit the show in Providence, RI at the Pawtucket Armory, linked here; or go to John Paul Hornbeck's website to make a donation to the starving college student's art fund, for building and shipping this piece on exhibit. Ideally someday this sculpture can find a prominent "resting place" in an important American collection, for its singular ability to capture some of the trauma of war for the soldiers who serve in it.
The VA has an excellent "Fact Sheet" devoted to the special problems and opportunities of PTSD in a relationship. It's well worth reading. Click here for the link. The fact sheet is entitled, "Partners of Veterans with PTSD: Caregiver Burden and Related Problems," but the "related problems" are so many more than alluded to in that simple and generic title. In the "meat" of the fact sheet quite a few topics are covered, including: marital adjustment and divorce rates; interpersonal violence and domestic violence; mental health of partners (because PTSD can have a negative effect on others, as well); and caregiver burden. If you or a loved one suffer from combat trauma, please take the time to read and review this short but useful handout.
Tony Neff
John Powers
