About the Artist: Alexander P. Russo (1922- ), Specialist First Class, USNR

Russo studied art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve in 1942. First assigned as a graphic artist for the Navy recruiting bureau, he documented in art North African, Sicilian, and Normandy invasion operations. While completing that work he came into contact with the Navy Combat Art Program. He later transferred to that section and completed an assignment on board U.S.S. Tranquility in the Pacific. Russo received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his combat artwork. After the war, he continued to study art and later taught at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C and Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. He exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions, mainly in New York, Washington, D.C., and East Hampton, Long Island.

Heavenly Father, Whose care and guidance brought our forefathers to this great land, and led them through faith, courage and self-sacrifice to build the foundations of a great democratic nation, dedicated to Thy service and the rights of man, lead us, O God, in our day, as Thou didst lead our forefathers, and help us to be faithful stewards of the heritage which Thou hast entrusted to us.

Reverently, on this Memorial Day, in Thy holy presence, we pay our tribute of respect to the memory of those who gave their lives in the service of our country. We pray, that the souls of these, our heroic dead may have found perfect rest in Thee, and received the crown of an unfading life. O Thou, Eternal Lover of souls, cherish and bless them, we entreat Thee, and give unto us, the living, peace and hope as we think of them in this solemn hour.

Before Thee, O Lord God, we humbly acknowledge our debt to them, and beseech Thee to give us the strength, to go on towards the ideals for which they fought and died. Take, O Lord, the veil from their hearts, and join us in one communion with all Thy saints on earth, and in the life beyond.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. — From Memorial Day Prayers according to the Ritual of the Polish National Catholic Church