This amazing video was done by a small production compnay in the UK called Myrtle Productions. The song is entitle Coming Home and is sung by The Soldiers. The amazing art is done by Michael G Reagan founder of the Fallen Heroes Project. I have blogged many times about Micheal’s work. For those who are not familiar, Michael is a world renowned portrait artist who now draws almost exclusively portraits of Fallen Heroes who have died in the fight against terrorism. He presents these portraits as a gift to the families free of charge. He’s been getting a lot of recent media coverage in the United Kingdom because not all the Fallen Heroes are from the US. I urge you to follow the link to the Fallen Heroes Project site and donate generously. (Read the rest of the story here…)
Artist Michael G. Reagan honors the Fallen Heroes of our allies too
January 22, 2010 — Ms Sparky
Fallen Heroes Project Portrait Poster #4 of 7. Each poster is unique and all seven posters will be on dsplay at Arlington National Cemetary on Memorial Day.
After the last few posts, I think it’s time I throw a little love your way.
I’ve written about world renowned portrait artist Michael G. Reagan and the Fallen Heroes Project several times. Micheal is an artist from Washington State who has committed himself to hand drawing the portrait of every soldier who has died in this fight against terrorism. This not only includes American soldiers, but those soldiers of our allies as well.
And every portrait, over 2000 now, requested by the Fallen Heroes family is done free of charge. It’s a gift from Michael to them. You can help defer these costs at the Fallen Heroes Project site.
Arlington National Cemetery is displaying all seven of posters in Section 60. See below.
Here is is a recent article from the BBC News (if you have problems viewing this audio slide show on MsSparky.com click HERE)
Audio slideshow: Portraits of the fallen
Distinctive portraits of British, US and Canadian service personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan – created by artist Michael Reagan – have gone on display at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington DC.
A Vietnam War veteran himself, he has produced more than 2,000 drawings for the soldiers’ families free of charge. He told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme he wants to document all of the Allied troops killed in action.
Fallen Heroes Project posters on display at Arlington National Cemetery
Fallen Heroes Project posters on display at Arlington National Cemetery
Micheal is going to be in my neck of the woods soon. I will have the distinct pleasure of meeting him in person and am looking forward to hearing him speak.
Ms Sparky
Other Related Posts:
Robert Gates’ mission failure in protecting female soldiers
December 12, 2009 — ForsetiSeeking answers to why they died
Trailer for the upcoming Midtown Films documentary “LaVena Johnson — The Silent Truth”, questioning whether there is a cover up of the rape and murder of women soldiers. (Warning: Video contains graphic images of the crime scene)
Stories of women killed in combat need to be told, Colonie vet says
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
TimesUnion.com – Saturday, December 12, 2009
COLONIE, NY — The military’s investigation into how Staff Sgt. Amy Tirador died in Iraq has hit home for someone who never knew her: Noonie Fortin, an Army veteran who has spent decades documenting women at war and the sometimes murky circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Fortin has chronicled the stories of American women who have died in combat zones since the Civil War from her home just miles from where Tirador grew up. Fortin’s proud, tragic profiles are now published on a Web site bearing her name, and provide information gathered from military sources, media reports and, sometimes, family members. Pictures of the fallen accompany most of the modern day snippets, which also tell how, where and when the servicewomen were killed.
An author of 10 books and a public speaker, Fortin comes at the project from a patriotic point of view. She says she’s archiving the casualties for history. But the retired first sergeant says she knows the anguish and stress of war, and questions military reports she considers unbelievable or incomplete. And there’s been more than a few of those from Iraq, Fortin said in her Colonie home.
“I do it because these women’s stories need to be out there,” said Fortin, author of “Women at Risk: We Also Served,” which tells the stories of more than 60 military women.
On her web site, Fortin names 118 women, ages 18 to 54, who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and 28 lost supporting military operations in Afghanistan. The military has classified at least 45 of the female deaths in Iraq as noncombat incidents, she notes. Of those, 13, including Tirador, died from gunshot wounds, while many of the others were involved in vehicle accidents or had health problems.
The latest entry in Fortin’s gallery is Tirador, an Army interrogator who spoke Arabic and worked in military intelligence. Tirador, 29, grew up in Colonie and was shot in the back of the head while walking to an 8 p.m. work shift on the U.S. military base Camp Caldwell in eastern Iraq, her mother has said. More than five weeks after her death, the military has released few details about it, only that it is investigating whether Tirador was killed, committed suicide or died in an accident.
Ann Wright, a vocal advocate for military women from Arkansas who retired as an Army colonel in protest of the Iraq war in 2003, called Fortin’s Web site “the only one that has information on every woman, military or civilian, killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Women are increasingly serving amid warfare, weapons and combat stress, Wright and Fortin say. In those environments, relationships can sometimes end in rape, violence or even murder, they say.
More than 2,900 sexual assaults were reported in the military in 2008, 8 percent more than 2007, according to a March report by the U.S. Defense Department. About 63 percent of those involved rape or aggravated assault, the report states. It says 251 of the incidents occurred in combat areas, with 141 in Iraq and 22 in Afghanistan.
The deaths of several women in Iraq and at least one in Afghanistan are suspicious, Fortin said.
She cites the 2005 case of Army Pvt. LaVena L. Johnson as the most striking. The 19-year-old Missouri woman died in Balad after being raped, beaten, shot and set on fire, said her father, who has pictures and documents from the incident. The Army has ruled Johnson’s death a suicide from a self-inflicted rifle shot. The case is profiled in the forthcoming documentary, “LaVena Johnson — The Silent Truth,” due for release in 2010. It examines whether there is an army coverup of the rape and murder of women soldiers.
“Is this another Pat Tillman-style cover-up?” Fortin wrote on her Web site about the death of Johnson.
She also tells the story of how the military had blamed the 2007 death of Spc. Kamisha J. Block on friendly fire, only to later admit that her ex-boyfriend shot the 20-year-old five times in Baghdad before killing himself. “The Army and Pentagon lied to the family and press,” Fortin said.
Here are other cases about which she questions the official military accounts:
Army Pvt. Tina Priest, who had claimed she was raped in Iraq, died from a non-combat gunshot wound to the chest in Taji in 2006.
Pvt. Hannah L. Gunterman McKinney, who died after reportedly falling out of a vehicle in Taji.
Maj. Gloria D. Davis and Sgt. Denise A. Lannaman, who the Army says died of noncombat gunshot wounds, but according to reports may have been involved in shady deals with private military contractors.
Army Spc. Ciara Durkin, who had told her parents to press for answers if anything happened to her while she was deployed in Afghanistan, Fortin says. In September 2007, someone shot her once in the head near a church at Bagram Airfield. The military reportedly has said she committed suicide. Family members believe she was killed.
Fortin also details the shooting deaths of three women supporting the Iraq war from Bahrain, including Navy Master-at-Arms Anamarie Sannicolas Camacho, 20, and Genesia Mattril Gresham, 19, who were killed by a male sailor in 2007 in what is described as a jilted boyfriend’s shooting spree.
Tirador is not the only female translator to die overseas. Spc. Alyssa Renee Peterson, 27, killed herself in Iraq in 2003 after saying that she didn’t like the way interrogations were done, Fortin says.
Tirador is the first woman from the Capital Region to die in a war zone since a nurse from Albany named Marilyn Lourdes Allan was shot to death in 1967 by a decorated Army captain in Vietnam, Fortin said. Allan is featured in Fortin’s book “Women at Risk.” She was working with the U.S. Agency for International Development, and had dated her killer, who committed suicide after shooting her three times, according to a Times Union report.
Fortin grew up in Lansingburgh and served in the Army Reserve from 1975 to 1997. Military investigations like the one underway in the Tirador case can take four to six months, she said.
“I feel that the military could do more,” Fortin said, referring the military’s handling of the investigations of noncombat deaths . “Will they? Not unless they get pushed.” (click HERE for original article)
Noonie Fortin’s profiles of U.S. women who have died in combat zones.
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“I could actually hear him laugh”
November 18, 2009 — Ms Sparky
Dear Michael,
When I unwrapped the drawing of Ryan and laid eyes on him, I instantly knew that you had captured him and brought him to life. I looked into his eyes and I felt him looking back at me. When I saw his slight smile, I could actually hear him laugh, as if he was getting ready to say something.
My heart aches for Ryan and how he died. In the midst of searching for answers, you have brought me peace. I’ve had to learn to slow down and appreciate the gifts that God places in front of me. The drawing you created of Ryan is a very special gift that I will cherish forever.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift; the purpose of life is to give it away”. This is my favorite quote by Joy J. Golliver.
You are, without a doubt, a person that has “found your gift”! And I can’t thank you enough for “giving your gift away”. You give your gift to complete strangers to provide comfort. It does that and so much more, it is a life long treasure that will be handed down from generation to generation.
I’m not sure I can express myself so that you can fully understand the depth of my gratitude. Thank you Michael. Thank you for finding your gift and thank you for giving it away. May faith fill your heart, and may God’s love surround you today and always.
Thank you for blessing me!
Deepest Regards,
Cheryl Harris
(letter and photo courtesy of Cheryl Harris and Michael G. Reagan)
The “Michael” Cheryl speaks so fondly of is Michael G. Reagan, Artist and founder of The Fallen Heroes Project.
Michael G. Reagan is an internationally-recognized portrait artist who has assisted charities such as the Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center raise over $10 million through his drawn and donated autographed celebrity portraits. As a portrait artist for more than 30 years, Reagan has drawn approximately 10,000 portraits including over 1500 portraits of celebrities, professional athletes, U.S. presidents and other heads of state.
But, Michael calls The Fallen Heroes Project “the most important thing I’ve ever done in my life. This project reached into my chest and touched a part of my heart that I really didn’t think existed”.
“Our mission is to honor the American Fallen Heroes for their ultimate sacrifice during the war against terrorism. The foundation will provide the resources to produce and distribute to each family a hand-drawn portrait of their Fallen Hero, created by artist Michael G. Reagan, free of charge. Each portrait is intended to show our Love and Respect for these Heroes and their families.”
To date Michael has created over 1900 portraits of Fallen Heroes for grieving families. If you have a Fallen Hero and would like a portrait contact Michael by clicking HERE. If you would like to see portraits that Michael has completed and read letters from receiving families click HERE.
Shipping, art supplies and packaging are all costly out of pocket expenses for Michael. I ask you to make a generous tax deductible personal or corporate donation while visiting The Fallen Heroes Project website. Click HERE for previous post on The Fallen Heroes Project.
Thank you Michael
Ms Sparky
Other Related Posts:
Halliburton’s Army
May 13, 2009 — Ms SparkyI’ve heard this is a great book and have been intending to buy it but didn’t know when I’d have the time to read it. I was notified this morning that quotes from the testimony of witnesses from the Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing for July 11, 2008 are in the book. This was the first hearing held on soldier electrocutions and shoddy electrical work. Cheryl Harris, Larraine McGee, Rachel McNeil, Jeff Bliss and myself testified at this hearing. I guess I have to buy the book now!! Below the book cover is a link to Amazon.com.
Halliburton’s Army: How a Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War
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Fallen Heroes Project – Just For The Love Of It!
May 8, 2009 — Ms Sparky
War….started by few and fought by many. If there is anything good to come from war, it’s the reaffirmation in the goodness of mankind. That may sound like some kind of crazy contradiction, but from beneath the smoldering rubble of broken hearts drowning in the tears of lost loved ones, there are some who are compelled to rise up and honor those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. I want to tell you about one such person, portrait artist Michael G. Reagan founder of FallenHeroesProject.org.
A project Michael has called “the most important thing I’ve ever done in my life. This project reached into my chest and touched a part of my heart that I really didn’t think existed”.
Michael G. Reagan is a world renowned portrait artist from Edmonds, Washington. He has created over 11,0000 portraits, more than 1500 for celebrities, professional athletes, US Presidents and other Heads of State. But more importantly, he has created over 1700 portraits of US Soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Click HERE to view some portraits)
Michael has committed to drawing the portrait of every US Soldier killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is his gift to the families and is given free of charge. Michael draws two portraits per day. Learning and caring about each soldier as he does so. He truly believes the soldier is with him. Helping him to get it just right. At the current number of 4284 Fallen Heroes and if not one more Soldier dies, and at the rate of two portraits per day and subtracting the 1700 already completed, Michael will have to draw every day for next 3 1/2 years.
If you ever wondered if one person can make a difference, just asked the thousands of family members of Fallen Soldiers who have received the selfless gift of love from Michael. Before I get to the video links, I would like to implore you to donate any amount to the project to pay for shipping and art supplies. Please give for Mother’s Day so that every Gold Star Mom may receive this gift. Click HERE to donate. A little corporate Karma might be in order here.
This first video clip is from a February 2007 Seattle Rotary Meeting. It is 25 unedited compelling minutes of Michael talking about his experience with the Fallen Heroes Project. Click HERE to watch and change your life forever. (get a tissue)
Click HERE to watch an amazingly powerful 3 minute MSNBC clip from September 2006.
If you have a portrait of your Fallen Hero from Michael that you would like to share, please send a photo and I will share it with my readers. If you can, tell us how it has impacted your life.
If you have a Fallen Hero and want to request a portrait click HERE.
I have been trying to write this post about Michael for quite some time. But sometimes I get “stuck” in the fighting and the anger that is DoD corporate fraud affecting our troops and civilians in the Middle East. You can’t write about Michael G. Reagan while you are stuck in “anger”. Thanks Michael for helping me get “unstuck” if only for a moment.
Ms Sparky
Other Related Posts:
The Cries Of A Mother’s Heart – By Lonnie D. Story
February 3, 2009 — Ms SparkyI would like to introduce author, Lonnie D. Story, a US Army Veteran, thorough researcher and passionate writer. We became acquainted when I began blogging about Depleted Uranium(DU) weapons and Dustin Brim. Lonnie has written and is waiting to publish “Without a Shot Fired: The Dustin Brim Story” and is currently best known for his book The Meeting of Anni Adams: The Butterfly of Luxembourg
THE CRIES OF A MOTHER’S HEART
By Lonnie D. Story (Copyright, 2009)
Ft. Valley, Georgia
“Dear Lonnie I read your story on Dustin Brim. And my heart cried out- Finally someone is talking about the way my son and others died. My son SGT. Jason Henderson was also a mechanic on humvees, serving his 2nd tour. When he became sick in kuwait. They told him he just had heartburn. This went on for 3 months till they finally sent him to Germany where they diagnosed him with stage 4 cancer. After sending him to Walter Reed. I noticed the entire 7th floor is full of soldiers sent there from Iraq with cancer … The Doctors at Walter Reed said we must have cancer in the family, We do not!!!! After three weeks of tests they sent my son home to die. I just could not believe this was happening to my son who was very healthy before this. Jason was always very concerned about living a healthy lifestyle. He never drank or smoked. He was devoted to martial arts winning awards in army Tae Kwon Do tournaments, and kickboxing. We wanted a second opinion so we took Jason to Stanford Medical center. It was there that the Chief oncologist told us he “Had never seen a case so advanced ” And that this was without a doubt chemical exposure…
we were told there was nothing we could do but they offered chemo anyway. Jason was a fighter so started chemo treatments. My son lasted only 4 more months. On July 20th 2005 We lost our battle to save our wonderful son. Two months later my husband died. I need to find a way to help other parents by trying to stop anymore deaths from DU… Thank you for listening. Heartbroken mother, Jana Bell”
There are a lot of things we endure in life, in fact, it is written in the Bible, in the words of Jesus: Mathew 24:13,14 “But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come.” For many years of my life I had heard that message preached and taught as if it were saying that once the Gospel (the good news of Christ’s salvation offer) was preached to the ends of the earth that the end would come; the return of the Messiah. One day, many years ago, I picked up my bible and read that passage again and it leaped off the page to me. The statement starting in vs. 13 and then continuing into vs. 14 with a very important key; the conjunction “And..” then the word “This..” This gospel, what gospel, or “good news” as the word implies “shall be preached to the whole world? The good news that the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved,… That was a very life-impacting statement to me personally. It was the message of endurance. The message that most people don’t want to hear, and that is something I can understand. Who truly likes to “endure” things? The mere mention of the word endurance elicits thoughts of pain, suffering and hidden fears. Another statement by Jesus was that “he who endures…on account of my name.” referring to great reward is a promise of not only assurance, but, reassurance. This being said, certainly endurance does have many rewards, honors and even pleasures in the end. What success is there without much endurance, in most cases?
Nonetheless, there are some things that just don’t seem to fit. In fact, some things are not meant to be endured. These are the things that fall under the label of Unjust, Illegal, Corrupt, Evil, Wrong, Ungodly and Fruitless. Sufferings such as hunger, poverty, sickness and disease are things we as the human race must often endure no matter one’s opinion on the justice of that fact. However, in the aforementioned, Unjust, Corrupt, Evil, etc., these endurances do not result in reward for the person afflicted, rather it is pain, heartache and suffering unimaginable. For Jana, in the letter above, the reader can, if they truly have a heart, feel some of the pain and sorrow. Personally, it was heart-wrenching and re-ignited a fire in me that has been burning for a long time. It isn’t the first, nor will it be the last, time that I receive such correspondence. As I continue down this path set before me, I continue to pray and seek guidance that somehow, someway and by God’s grace and mercy, maybe soon, this gospel will be preached to the ends of the world. The gospel I preach: “He who hears the cries of a mother’s heart will listen, learn and love and cease from all wrong and evil doing. He who hears the cry of a mother’s heart will be broken in heart themselves and share the burden, share the load and strive to change things so that our children’s children will not hear that same cry anymore.”
I know it is altruistic and sounds wonderful, soothing and yet, highly improbable or even impossible, but, I draw from that gospel, preach that gospel and one by one, I trust some do hear and make changes. In our political world today, many people have heard that word a lot and it has brought a renewed global hope. Just maybe, someone will read this article and the excerpt below and be moved to action to stop, at least, this one unnecessary evil. Stop the cries of the heart’s of many other mothers yet to be heard before they happen. In doing so, we must first and foremost, stop our government from using depleted uranium on our own troops, innocent lives and remove this poison from our weapons of war and from our planet. We must stop the media from ignoring the cries of the hearts of these mothers that already exist. Stop the talk shows from ignoring our pleas, unstop the ears of the public and move on, press forward to enlighten, educate and liberate while it is not too late. Listen once more, one more time. Listen closely as you read this excerpt from my manuscript, the yet unpublished book “Without A Shot Fired: The Dustin Brim Story” hear this mother’s cry.
“On September 24, 2004, Lori walked the hallways at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for the last time. Her face was swollen and puffy. Her eyes red and blurred. Her speech was hindered, halting and shaky. Her body trembled uncontrollably through to the tips of her reddened hands. Hands that had been gripped all night in a clasp of prayers. Prayers that she could no longer pray. A decision had come and it would be far from her hopes, pleadings and tears. There wasn’t any more reason to go on like this, no more needles, no more chemicals, no more tests, no more pain and no more suffering. Not for herself, but, for her son. It was time to let Dustin go.
As Lori approached the room, a darkness fell all around her. She could no longer see the lights in the hallway. She no longer felt the cool air breezing through or sense the presence of the other travelers down this pathway. No doctors, no nurses, no friends or family were noticed, her mind had taken hold of her decision, hers alone and all other things outside and around were frozen out, cast into utter darkness.
Lori’s hands pushed the door open as she entered the room and she took one more deep breath to steel herself to do the impossible; the most painful, indescribable decision she had ever made or ever would have to make in her life. She had come into this room to tell her only son, the son she loved more than life itself, the son that she had given birth to with so much joy and hope only 22 short years before; this son, her son, her Dusty, her angel, she had to tell him to let go, stop fighting, all the opposites of the things she had told him for the past six months. Here she was, with this unbearable truth; she had to tell her own son it was time to die.
As cruel as that may sound, it was a mother’s plea, a mother’s cry from her heart to stop the pain. Stop the suffering of her only child. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t good, it was time to end the battle. A battle lost on the battlefield of a hospital that started on the battlefields of a far off place in the Middle East called Iraq. The battlefields where her son, this son, her Dusty had succumbed to a poisonous evil brought about by no war of her choosing nor of her child. It was a war brought by others and for their own reasons, good or bad.
Dustin was only a part of it, a small part to most and many; but that too would change in the near future. But here in this room, here and now, Dustin was hearing his final orders. No longer the instructions of those that commanded him while serving in the Army, serving his country, serving in Iraq, serving his fellow soldiers, this command was from the voice he had known all his life. The voice he loved, the voice that always brought assurances, peace, consolation and unselfish, unconditional love. This voice was whispering in his ear and he recognized it, knew it, believed it and understood, as sad as it was, it was right.
“Dustin, let go, honey. Dustin, don’t fight anymore, baby. Go home. Go home to Jesus. Your going to heaven now, baby, mommy will see you soon. Be at rest, sweetheart. Rest now, Dustin. Go on ahead, son. Don’t fight it anymore. I love you, baby. Mommy loves you so, so very much. Honey, let go.”
And, with those words, that morning of September 24, 2004, Dustin Michael Brim, breathed his last breath. He relented, he relaxed and rested. He had lost the battle, the battle he had fought so hard and so bravely. Not a battle in Iraq or any other place, but, a battle within his own body, a war against death and it was lost. It was over, at least, for Dustin and for Lori. For all the people that knew him and loved him, this battle was over, the war was ending in surrender to death. One thing remained; a commitment. Lori’s swearing oath to her son and herself: Dustin’s death will not be the death of his memory or his life lived. Dustin’s death would not be in vain. This never had to happen. It should not have happened and no other mother should have to cry the tears she cried, feel the pain Dustin endured nor fight this unnecessary and cruel conflict. If it had been a bullet or a bomb, Lori would have somehow understood. Maybe there could have been a little more peace, a little more closure. Instead, she was robbed. She was emotionally raped and murdered along side her son.
What had happened to Dustin, in all her heart she believed, was all from wrongdoing, evil and unjust. Her son was poisoned by something on that battlefield in Iraq and she would not rest until she got answers. Months earlier a nurse had told her secretively and at her own peril, to look into the subject of depleted uranium on the Internet. Now, with Dustin at rest and gone, she would re-ignite her determination to find the answers to the mystery. The mystery of some previously unheard of stuff called depleted uranium.
For now though, there was only one thing left in this world; her wounded, battered, beaten and sullen heart. A heart that had no place to turn, no place to heal. She simply sat by the bed, having leaned over with her final words to her son, she sat and cried. She sat silently sobbing. Crying all the pain out from her heart. A broken heart never to know true joy and peace on earth again.
Down the hall, that day, and in days to come, many more mothers would cry the same tears and their hearts, too, would yield their souls to anguish. From that floor filled with cancer patients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center there would lift an echo. Around the world the echo would lift and unite, an echo that needed to pierce the hearts and minds of those that played a part in so much pain and misery. Each reaching out and pleading to anyone and everyone that would listen, listen to the cry of a mother’s heart.” (END)
My personal thanks to Lonnie D. Story for this contribution. As a mom….I just cried and cried.
Ms Sparky