This illustration was done for Asian Pacific Heritage Month with the theme “Freedom for All, A Nation We Call Our Own”. I decided to spotlight the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The story of these men is incredible. Comprised of Japansese-Americans they enlisted and fought for a country that had stripped them and their families of their civil rights and placed them in internment camps during WWII. The image was painted from a photograph of Medic Ken Osaki and 442nd medic mascot Wahine (National Archives). There was something about the image of this soldier with the dog that spoke to me about his compassion for others.