Ride of the Valkyries: Simon Atack/Flight of the Valkyries: Wilhelm Richard Wagner





This painting titled ride of the Valkyries by Simon Atack depicts an outbound seek-and destroy mission flown by a ten-ship Huey formation of the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Division. In the scene, the helicopters fly low over the monastery at An Khe in South Vietnam.   The setting of this painting is of course during the Vietnam War, deep in the jungles of Vietcong territory.  The artist of this painting is representing the American cause and portrays the Vietnamese country to be both dangerous and mystical.

Atack`s subject in the painting is a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, better known as a "Huey".  The Huey was well suited to navigating the dense jungles and jagged peaks of Vietnam, and became one of the US Army`s most effective weapons of the war.  The helicopters symbolize not only the literal presence of the American troops, but of the American spirit as the troops brave the unknown of the Vietnamese Jungles.  The background is gloomy and dark, representing the darkness and danger that this war, and all wars pose.  

I chose this piece because it deals with the Vietnam war which we just watched a movie on in class.  In the movie Apocalypse now, there is a scene in which a helicopter fleet similar to this one go on a flight over the water and jungle, but for a very different purpose.  The helicopters in the movie are not on a search and destroy mission, rather a destroy and surf mission.  A very different side of the American soldiers is shown in the film where they are depicted as arrogant and kill for no reason while the painting depicts them as valiant heroes.  An interesting connection I found between the painting and the film is that in the film during the chopper scene, the song Flight of the Valkyries by Wilhelm Richard Wagner is playing throughout the attack, and of course the name of this painting is Ride of the Valkyries by Simon Atack.  Coincidence? Maybe, Maybe not.