Subject: Tribute to Lance Corporal Holmason
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> PRETTY MOVING STORY HERE
> As you rest comfortably in your bed tonight, think of men and women like
> Lance Corporal Holmason.
> There are several published accounts of this story, I therefore believe
> it to be correct. Rick
>
>
> MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (March 2, 2006) Karla Comfort
> received a lot of looks and even some salutes from people when she drove
> from Benton, Ark., to Camp Pendleton, Calif., in her newly-painted,
> custom Hummer H3 March 2. The vehicle is adorned with the likeness of!
> her son, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. John M. Holmason, and nine other Marines
> with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
> who where all killed by the same improvised explosive device blast in
> Fallujah, Iraq, in December.
> For Comfort, having the vehicle air brushed with the image of the 10
> Marines was a way to pay homage to her hero and his fellow comrades who
> fell on Iraq's urban battlefield.
> "I wanted to let people know (Marines) are doing their jobs honorably,
> and some of them die," said the 39-year-old from Portland, Ore. "I don't
> want people to forget the sacrifices that my son and the other Marines
> made."
> Leading up to her son's death, Comfort had received several letters from
> him prior to his return. He had been deployed for five months, and
> Comfort "worried everyday he was gone until she got the letters and
> found out the date he was coming home," she said. Marines knocked on the
> front door of her home in Farmington, Mich., at 3 a.m. with the dreadful
> news. "I let my guard down when I found out he was coming home," she
> said. "There are times that I still cannot believe it happened. It's
> very hard to deal with."
> Comfort came up with the idea for the rolling memorial when she and her
> two other sons attended John's funeral in Portland, Ore. "I saw a
> Vietnam (War) memorial on a car, and I said to my son Josh, 'we should
> do something like that for John,' she recalled. "He loved Hummers."
> She purchased the vehicle in January and immediately took it to
> AirbrushGuy & Co. in Benton, Ark., where artist Robert Powell went to
> work on changing the plain, black vehicle into a decorative, mobile, art
> piece. "I only had the vehicle for two days before we took it in," she
> joked. Two hundred and fifty man-hours later, Powell had completed the
> vehicle. The custom job would have cost $25,000. Out of respect for
> Comfort's loss and the sacrifices the Marines made, AirbrushGuy & Co.
> did it for free. Comfort only had to purchase the paint, which cost
> $3,000.
> "I love it," she said. "I'm really impressed with it, and I think John
> would be happy with the vehicle. He would have a big smile on his face
> because he loved Hummers." Comfort gave Powell basic instructions on
> what to include in the paint job. But in addition to the image of her
> son in Dress Blues and the faces of the nine other Marines, there were
> several surprises. "He put a lot more on than I expected," she said. "I
> think my favorite part is the heaven scene."
> On the left side of the vehicle, a detail of Marines are depicted
> carrying their fallen comrades through the clouds to their final resting
> place. The American flag drapes across the hood, the words, "Semper Fi"
> crown the front windshield and the spare tire cover carries the same
> Eagle Globe and Anchor
> design that her son had tattooed on his back. "All the support I have
> been getting is wonderful," she said.
> Comfort decided to move back to her hometown of Portland, and making the
> cross-country trip from Arkansas was a way for her to share her son's
> story. It's also her way of coping with the loss. "Along the way I got
> nothing but positive feedback from people," she said. "What got to me
> was when people would salute the guys (Marines). It's hard to look at
> his picture. I still cry and try to get used to the idea, but it's hard
> to grasp the idea that he's really gone."
Thank God for Lance Corporal Holmason, his fellow soldiers, and all those who have dies thus far, fighting for our freedom; as well as those still in combat
Thank God for Karla Comfort, who truly understands what it means to lose a son, and who understands why he died.
