Preserving our loved ones’ mementoes

Though he was a graphic artist by trade, my father’s original paintings hung throughout our home. My favorite one shows three boys running down a hill while a kite soars behind them.

I have always wondered if he painted it before his service as a paratrooper during World War II or after the war ended. Before the war, my mother said, he was much happier, and after the war ended, he had many struggles adjusting to civilian life. I wish he had shared the stories behind the subjects. Who are these young men?