Preventative Medicine
Colonel Peter Michael Gish, USMCR
Acquisition Number: 2012.1022.165
Medium: Oil on Canvas

A sniper covers fellow Marines conducting a dawn raid on a gang headquarters in Mogadishu, Somalia, during Operation Restore Hope. Alert snipers from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), armed with M-40A1 bolt-action rifles fitted with highly accurate scopes, provided cover from rooftops and other vantage points. This multi-national operation sought to secure Somalia using military means in 1992-94 so that emergency humanitarian relief could be provided to a starving population. A violent civil war, rival clans, and an abundance of weapons in the wrong hands prevented the United Nations from achieving its long-term goals of providing stability and aid to this African nation.