On March 17, 2008, she was given a wonderful gift, to try to give her back a part of what she lost. She was presented with a portrait of her son, 1LT Kile G. West, painted by Phil Taylor [reproduced with permission], who has decided to use his talent as an artist to help ease the pain families of the fallen experience. Thank you, Nanette, for sharing this story with me.
So far, Phil Taylor has painted eighteen portraits. He does not charge the families for the portraits. It costs about $800 per portrait (I assume for supplies and framing, which I know isn't cheap [being a past purchaser of custom framing]). The Texas Fallen Soldiers Project is a non-profit organization. If you wish to help support this project, you can donate here via PayPal or you can mail a donation to:
The Texas Fallen Soldiers Project
2405 FM 423
Suite 300
PMB 912
Little Elm, Texas 75068
Sources:
KEYE 42: A priceless gift given to mother of soldier who died in Iraq (with video report) - 3/17/08
Austin American-Statesman photo essay - 3/17/08
Austin American-Statesman: Texas artist paints fallen soldiers' portraits for families - 3/18/08
1 comment:
Gone but never forgotten.
My thoughts and prayers are with the West family today. Kile was a wonderful person and a superior Army officer.
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