Fire Mission

About the artist: Benjamin F. Long, IV (1stLt, USMCR) (1945 – present)
Benjamin Long attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and studied at the Art Students League in New York. Long enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1969 and served his first tour in Vietnam as an infantry officer. He served as a combat artist during his second tour. Long was wounded by shrapnel while covering operations of Company H, 2d Battalion, 7th Marines in the Que Son Valley. When his service ended in 1970, he apprenticed at the Studio Annigoni, Italy, with fresco painter Pietro Annigoni. He went on to a successful career painting frescos, portraits, and landscapes.