Remembering Fallen Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq

Last Monday, on Memorial Day, America collectively remembered people who have sacrificed their lives in service to the United States. This day was a reminder of the reality of conflicts and wars of the past and also of the present. 4,900 members of the U.S. military have died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as of May 26, 2009. It appears that American combat forces will be leaving Iraq by September 2010; however, the war in Afghanistan poses increasing challenges because of the resurgence of the Taliban.
Often, it is easy to forget the sacrifices of the soldiers who fight in wars to defend the country’s interests. With the current economic problems, high unemployment, challenges with access to quality healthcare and higher education, there are several issues that captivate one’s attention on the domestic front. By reading newspaper articles about Memorial Day, I was reminded of the effect that the current wars have on soldiers and their families. Whether or not the decision for the U.S. to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan was correct, lives have been lost. I think it is important to be aware of the political and social topics that occur abroad as well as at home.
Reading the articles about the wars reminded me about a portrait memorial that I visited when I was a senior in college. Faces of The Fallen: America’s Artists Honor America’s Heroes is a portrait memorial that pays tribute to American service women and men who have lost their lives in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
The memorial, which opened on March 23, 2005, was at the Women in Military Service For America Memorial at the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery. The memorial closed on June 7, 2007. However, there is an online exhibit at www.facesofthefallen.org.
There are 1,319 service men and women whose faces are represented at the memorial, which features works in clay, collages, drawings, fiber, glass, metal, montages, paintings, and photo-based images, from over 200 American artists. The memorial represents soldiers who died from October 10, 2001 through November 11, 2004.
The U.S. service members, whose images are on display, represent a wide background of Americans. The memorial is arranged in chronological order, beginning with the earliest deaths in the war on terrorism. Each of the 6” wide by 8” high portraits has a nameplate with the soldiers’ age, date of death, hometown and the name of the artist who created their portrait.
There are six sections of portraits in a row against a wall in a large atrium at the Women in Military Service Memorial. A smaller section with sculpted clay images of soldiers appears on the right at the front entrance of the atrium. Additionally, a video featuring interviews of artists who participated in the memorial played in the background of the atrium.
There are men, women, teenagers, and middle-aged individuals, Asians, blacks, Hispanics, and whites represented in the memorial. The common thread among all who are represented is that they gave their lives for their country.
Lance Cpl. Anthony P. Roberts of Bear, Delaware, and member of the U.S. Marine Corps, died on April 6, 2004. He was 18. Pfc. Leslie D. Jackson’s image is featured as a painting of her with a cap and gown for her high school graduation. Jackson, of Richmond, Virginia, died on May 20, 2004; she was also 18. Spc. Thomas D. Doerflinger, of Silver Spring, Maryland, is shown wearing a tuxedo in his portrait created by artist Nancy Muller. Doerflinger died on November 11, 2004 at the age of 20.
Marine Corps Sgt. Jeanette Lee Winters of Du Page, Illinois was the first U.S. servicewoman to die in the war on terrorism. Winters, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1997, was one of seven Marines who died on January 9, 2002 in a plane crash in southwestern Pakistan.
Cpl. Patrick D. Tillman, an Army Ranger, was awarded the Silver Star posthumously. Tillman, a native of Chandler, Arizona, was a former professional football player with the Arizona Cardinals. Tillman turned down a lucrative contract to enter the military.
Each likeness of the service men and women is unique in its own way. On Spc. Doron Chan’s image created by artist Betsy Packard, there is a poem on the bottom right side of the portrait. Chan of Highland, New York, died on March 18, 2004 at age 20.
There are portraits at the memorial of service women and men with serious looks on their faces, as rendered from the pictures that the artists used. There are tender images as well. Spc. Jeremiah J. Holmes of North Berwick, Maine is shown kissing a baby on the cheek in a black and white drawing by Linda Abadjian.
Service men and women from each corner of the country are represented in the memorial; from California and Washington to Minnesota and Wisconsin to Louisiana and Texas. Pfc. Jason N. Lynch was 21 when he died on June 18, 2004. He was from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Portrait artist Annette Polan of Washington, D.C. developed the idea for the memorial honoring soldiers who have died in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. “Faces of the Fallen is about love and relationships, courage and sacrifice. It is also about the vision of artists and the power of art to bring us together in sorrow, compassion and respect,” Polan says in the Faces of the Fallen brochure.
If you are interested in learning more about the faces behind the portraits, I’d encourage you to visit the Faces of the Fallen website. It is somber to reflect on lives lost, but I also think it can inspire us to be courageous and value freedom.