Hummer Memorial
CAMP PENDLETON,
Calif
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, 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 Karla 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."
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" 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.
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!
PLEASE ..... Pass it on.