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Show Essay On Painting, "38th Parallel" ' Takes First in Senior High School those thousands of our comrades great, brave men that they were for whom there shall be no homecoming, ever." EDITOR'S NOTE: The following essay below, writ-ted writ-ted by Bill Whitney on the painting, paint-ing, "38th I-arallel," by Robert Rishell, took first place in the senior sen-ior high school essay contest on, "My Favorite Picture." The award consisted of an oil painting by Oliver Parson, presented presen-ted during the closing art program Monday afternoon. A lone figure, bathed in the pale moonlight, stands before rows of neat, white crosses, with a look of bewilderment on his gaunt, haunting face. Who is this man and what is he thinking? He is an American G. I. somewhere in Korea, that small, far off peninsula penin-sula that many people hardly knew existed before that day last summer when the North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel and plunged this nation into another horrible war. He is typical of the many men who rushed there to put down this agression before Communism could gain another strong foothold in the world. He and the many thousands like him are fighting and dying there today so that we in America shall never have to know anything but the freedom that we cherish and take for granted. As he lives in the filth and constant con-stant fear of war, and sees all the bloodshed, misery and destruction des-truction that comes with war, he wonders what good can possibly come out of this suffering, and if there can ever again be a time when the peoples of the earth will be able to get along with each other in peace and harmony. What lies in the future for him ? This is a question only God can answer. He may not live to see the dawn of the coming day, a day that will see the wheels of democracy demo-cracy turning faster and faster to hasten the time when he, and thousands like him, can return to their homeland and enjoy the freedom they are fighting to preserve. pre-serve. Robert Rishell's painting, 38th Parallel is truly a tribute to the courage of the great fighting men frop all corners of the globe, united uni-ted together, determined to stamp out the evil weed of Communism, and also as the beloved Ernie Pyle put it, "A solemn salute to |