FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Typically portrayed as an armed and armored Amazon astride a horse charging into battle with a sword and looking to the heavens, the Pieta of Joan of Arc depicts a lamenting Joan cradling the head of an enemy prisoner and looking into his eyes as she comforts him during his final moments.
The Pieta of Joan of Arc was unveiled during a ceremony Jan. 6 at Fort Drum's Main Post Chapel. As Col. Gary A. Rosenberg, Fort Drum garrison commander, Daniel A. Ezekiel Balan, the statue's sculptor, and Rev. Michael J. Cerrone, a retired Army chaplain and donor, dropped the curtain, silence drowned the room before it was filled with the awe and applause from Soldiers and community members in attendance.
Cerrone said he believes that Joan of Arc should be emulated for her personal courage -- one of the seven Army Values that Soldiers are expected to exemplify. Personal courage is standing for what is honorable against friend or foe.
"After having witnessed a French soldier strike an English prisoner, Joan of Arc ran to the prisoner's aid; she comforted him as he died," Cerrone said. "This work shows that scene of compassion."
The sculpture depicts Joan sitting on a tree stump with her helmet and equipment haphazardly dispersed around her as she gazes down upon the Englishman in his last breath looking to the heavens and waiting.
The sculpture serves to remind Soldiers that their enemies are human and that they should treat them as such.
"The last time I was in Fort Drum was 20 years ago, and I still feel like a part of the Army Family," Balan said during the ceremony.'"
"I am happy that this piece found its place here in Fort Drum. I hope that this piece will be a source of inspiration for Soldiers here."
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