Notes:

This is a painting that was made of a real, but unnamed marine, during the Battle of Peleliu in 1944. It was created by Thomas Calloway "Tom" Lea III, a war artist and correspondent for LIFE magazine who worked alongside the soldiers at the front..

The artist describes the soldier as such:

"He left the States 31 months ago. He was wounded in his first campaign. He has had tropical diseases. He half-sleeps at night and gouges J--- out of holes all day. Two-thirds of his company has been killed or wounded. He will return to attack this morning. How much can a human being endure?"

There is one subtle detail to the painting that I'd like to point out. If you look closely at the Marine's helmet, you can see that it has been dented; possibly by low-velocity shrapnel from a bomb or the butt of a rifle in hand-to-hand combat.

Only the marine himself knows for sure.