Hey All, read this, it will make tears flow down
your cheeks, and then send it on!! Thanks
(once a Marine always a Marine)
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 Karla 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, OR 'I don't want people to forget the
sacrifices that my son and the other Marines made.'
Leading up to her son's death, Karla 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 am 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.'
Karla Comfort came up with the idea for the rolling memorial
when she and her two other sons attended John's funeral in
Portland, Oregon.
‘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 Airbrush Guy & 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 Karla Comfort's loss
and the sacrifices the Marines made, Airbrush Guy
& 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.'
Karla 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'
(Always Faithful) crowns 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.
Karla 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.'
Let’s get this Hummer going around the world,
we won't forget! Please, pass it on.
Always Remember:
'What comes around goes around and if
you forget... It may come back to bite ya!'
'In God We Trust'
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Building World-Wide Communities -- Together!
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