Sunday, March 27, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

'Faces of the Fallen'

Exhibit displays portraits of Americans killed in Afghanistan, Iraq

Capt. Joshua T. Byers Lance Cpl. Donald Cline Jr. Cpl. Matthew A. Commons Spc. Jason A. Disney Staff Sgt. Kerry W. Frith Pfc. John Lukac 1st Lt. Frederick Pokorney Cpl. William I. Salazar Airman 1st Class Jesse M. Samek Staff Sgt. Cameron B. Sarno Lance Cpl. Michael Williams Also memorialized but not pictured: Chief Warrant Officer John D. Smith Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Williams Nevadans who were killed after Nov. 11, 2004, whose portraits are not in the memorial: Lance Cpl. Nicholas H. Anderson Pfc. Daniel Guastaferro Lance Cpl. Richard Perez Jr. Cpl. Christopher Lee Weaver Rodney and Towina Nightingale embrace Wednesday in front of "Faces of the Fallen," a portrait exhibit of Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Arlington, Va. Towina's son, U.S. Army Pfc. Nathan Stahl, was killed on Sept. 21, 2004, at the age of 20. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Gloria Salazar of Bullhead City, Ariz., examines a guidebook for the "Faces of the Fallen" exhibit that has a portrait of her son, Marine Cpl. William I. Salazar, who died on Oct. 15, 2004. Photo by ERIK LACAYO/STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON

Marine Cpl. William I. Salazar was supposed to arrive home this month after completing a tour of duty in Iraq.

Instead, his mother Gloria gazed at a memorial portrait of the Las Vegan unveiled last week in an exhibit for the war dead at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.

"It's overwhelming. It's too soon," Gloria Salazar said after viewing her son portrayed on an 8-by-6-inch canvas by a Florida artist. "I still think he's going to come home any day now."

William Salazar was killed Oct. 15, 2004. He is among more than 1,300 soldiers remembered in the "Faces of the Fallen" exhibit that runs through Nov. 11, Veterans Day, at the cemetery's Women in Military Service for America Memorial.

Chelle Pokorney, who attended the exhibit opening with her 4-year-old daughter, Taylor, said she was proud of the portrait of her husband, Marine 1st Lt. Frederick Pokorney of Tonopah. He was killed at the age of 31 near Nasiriyah when a group of Iraqis feigned surrender and then shot their captors.

He was killed two years ago Wednesday, on March 23, 2003.

"It's a touching tribute," said Chelle Pokorney, who visited her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery. "(Taylor) is always very proud of her father."

Sixteen servicemen with ties to Nevada have been killed in action or on active duty overseas since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Arlington exhibit recognizes 11 of them who died between Oct. 10, 2001, and Nov. 11, 2004.

Organizers said they hope to memorialize those killed more recently.

After viewing the rows of portraits displayed on small stands, Gloria Salazar, who lives in Bullhead City, Ariz., said, "I just stood there and said, 'I can't believe this. It's unbelievable we've lost so many soldiers in this war in such a short period of time.' "

William Salazar, who was documenting the Iraq war on video for the military, died at the age of 26 in Karabilah. He was killed along with two other soldiers and an interpreter when his Humvee was attacked by a suicide car-bomber.

Salazar's portrait in the exhibit is displayed between those of Sgt. Michael G. Owen of Phoenix and Spc. Jonathan J. Santos of Whatcom, Wash., who also died in the blast.

Gloria Salazar said she met Owen's widow and his mother while viewing the portraits.

"I wanted to cry," she said. "No one can express in words how they feel."

Artist William Dunlap of Coral Gables, Fla., painted William Salazar's portrait, which shows him in camouflage wearing a cap that casts a shadow over his eyes.

Dunlap said he was "haunted" by Salazar's photo that inspired the portrait. He said the photo hung on his wall for about three weeks before he began creating the acrylic painting.

"It gave me no pleasure looking into the face of this dead young American," Dunlap said. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances."

Dunlap, who said he knows little of Salazar's life, wrote a personal message to the family on the back of the painting, which Gloria Salazar will receive when the exhibition is complete.

Jeannette Murphy, a Washington, D.C., artist, painted Frederick Pokorney. She first noticed the Nevadan's eyes as she began work on the oil-based portrait of him in dress uniform.

"I was struck by how kind his eyes looked," Murphy said. "One can't help but to get attached to the people you paint."

While a single portrait can't represent what a person is all about, Chelle Pokorney said her husband would have appreciated the piece, "knowing how much of a Marine he was."

"He was all about tradition and honor," she said.

Mara Odette of Bethesda, Md., created oil portraits of Pfc. John Lukac of Las Vegas and Airman 1st Class Jesse M. Samek, a Nellis Air Force Base flight engineer from Rogers, Ark.

"Many of the soldiers have baby faces. They were so young, so brave," Odette said. "As soon as you could begin to see their faces you feel like crying. It's like painting a son of mine."

Lukac was killed on Oct. 30, 2004, at age 19 by a suicide bomber near Fallujah. Samek, died at age 21 on Oct. 21, 2004, in a helicopter accident in western Afghanistan.

Odette said based on his photo she felt Lukac was young and cheerful, which she tried to show in the painting.

She judged Samek's mood as "more serious. He was more into what he was doing, he was a soldier."

Along with Salazar, Pokorney, Lukac and Samek, the other Nevada service members portrayed in the exhibit are:

• Army Capt. Joshua T. Byers, who attended Sparks High School, killed July 23, 2003, in Iraq.

• Marine Lance Cpl. Donald Cline Jr. of Sparks, killed March 23, 2003, in Iraq.

• Army Cpl. Matthew A. Commons of Boulder City, killed March 4, 2002, in Afghanistan.

• Army Spc. Jason A. Disney of Fallon, killed Feb. 13, 2002, in Afghanistan.

• Army Staff Sgt. Kerry W. Frith of Las Vegas, killed Feb. 21, 2002, in the Philippines.

• Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Cameron B. Sarno of Las Vegas, killed Sept. 1, 2003, in Kuwait.

• Army Chief Warrant Officer John D. Smith, killed Feb. 24, 2003, in Kuwait.

• Also memorialized is Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Williams, an Arizona resident who was born in Reno. He was killed March 23, 2003, in Iraq.

Nevadans who were killed after Nov. 11, 2004, were:

• Lance Cpl. Nicholas H. Anderson of Las Vegas, killed Nov. 12, 2004, in Iraq,

• Pfc. Daniel Guastaferro of Las Vegas, killed Jan. 7, 2005, in Iraq.

• Lance Cpl. Richard Perez Jr. of Las Vegas, killed Feb. 11, 2005, in Iraq.

• Marine Cpl. Christopher Lee Weaver of Las Vegas, killed Jan. 26, 2005, in Iraq.

"Faces of the Fallen" organizers said the exhibit may travel to some cities after it completes its showing at Arlington.