Posted on 06/30/2007 11:13:30 PM PDT by joanie-f
Utah artist Kaziah Hancock is so touched by the sacrifices of American soldiers in Iraq that she is determined to pay tribute to each one of those who lost their lives, and to offer a kind of eternal comfort to their grieving families in the process.
Kaziah Hancock lives alone (if you don’t count her hundred goats and handful of chickens) on a ranch at the base of a mountain in Utah.
To understand this independent, middle-aged woman who is devoting her extraordinary gifts to repay our fallen heroes, and to witness the indescribable effect that her love and patriotism have on the families that our heroes leave behind, have a look at this five and a half minutes that you won’t soon forget.
Four years ago, at the request of his family, a tearful Kaziah painted a portrait of Utah’s first fallen soldier in the war in Iraq. Since then, the requests have been pouring in, which has caused Kaziah to create ‘Project Compassion’ – a non-profit artistic organization which provides gallery-quality oil portraits of fallen Americans in uniform to their next of kin at no cost. Because of the overwhelming demand for her portraits, Kaziah has recruited five other renowned professional portraitists to help her keep up with the requests.
Project Compassion provides one gallery-quality, 18”x 24” original oil portrait of every American in uniform who has passed away on active duty since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to their families. Kaziah’s organization is now endorsed and in partnership with the Department of Defense and all branches of the armed services.
When each painting is finished, Kaziah Hancock sends them home – beautifully framed, packed and shipped, with a handwritten note in each one, expressing her feelings about the subject she has immortalized on canvas and her undying appreciation for his selfless sacrifice. Her portrait mailings currently number in the hundreds, with no end in sight.
Kaziah and her organization will accept not one cent from a soldier’s family. And, even when asked, she refuses to discuss the income she has forfeited by painting America’s sons and daughters instead of the landscapes that she normally sells for thousands of dollars. The painting of those landscapes has been put on indefinite hold.
After stepping back and looking at one of her most recently completed portraits, Kaziah quietly and tearfully reflected, ‘He should have been a daddy. He should have been a husband ‘til he was eighty years old …that would have been good … I would have so loved not to have painted him (as her voice breaks and tears begin to flow).’
Kindness is a virtue. And Kaziah Hancock is combining that virtue with a God-given gift in order to eternally memorialize our modern American heroes, and to comfort the loved ones they have left behind.
If you would like to contribute to Project Compassion in order to offset the cost of materials and shipping, please click here.
~ joanie
FYI. A citizen here at home doing more than her part.
WOW......
Thank you, again and again and again, joanie-f!!!
I saw this video yesterday. Very moving. Thank you for posting it here. God Bless our troops and their families who sacrifice daily so that we can enjoy our freedoms posting here on FR.
Thank you joanie-f.
I’m speechless. God bless her!
AWESOME!!!
If you would like to contribute to Project Compassion in order to offset the cost of materials and shipping, please click here.
WOW! Thanks for the ping joanie-f. The finest men and women the world may never know. Thank you Kaziah Hancock.
I will be forwarding this to my son, an artist.
I know the time, effort and love involved in portraits.
God bless her.
It’s incredible the power of one person, giving freely of their time and talent in the service of others. Thank you for this post!
I love her! I’ll have a contribution in Monday morning’s mail.
Thanks, Guinevere.
Every time I tune in (just long enough to grab the remote and tune out) to one of the never-ending sagas of Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton, or the like, I ask myself the (purely sarcastic and rhetorical) question, ‘Isn’t there something more worthwhile that the mainstream media (‘fair and balanced’ FoxNews included) could be reporting on?'
Haziah Hancock’s crusade is a striking example of an important, uplifting news story that the American public needs to hear. And yet the stories of the two women (and countless others) mentioned above take her place – women who have contributed absolutely nothing to this country and its citizens, and who wouldn’t know the meaning of patriotism, compassion or character if it smacked them in the face. Yet the media is bound and determined to install them as examples of modern American icons.
I would love to somehow corral all of the major media decision-makers, tie them each to a chair and ask them, ‘Why aren’t you covering the story of this woman and her amazing crusade? I’ll settle for ten percent of the coverage you are providing Paris Hilton.’ – and not unbind them until I receive a logical answer.
I have a sneaking suspicion they’d be in that chair for a very long time …
~ joanie
Allegiance and Duty Betrayed
However, they aren't willing to do it, because it also highlights the awesome patriotism of these heroic individuals, and telling their story runs the risk of opening people’s eyes to the fact that these are volunteers, men and women who made a conscious choice to serve, and who therefore made an extremely personal decision that liberty is worth defending, no matter the personal cost.
In other words, the Democrat Media isn't willing to take the chance that the American people, given full knowledge of what this war is all about, might decide after all that any price is worth paying, for the sake of our posterity, and the safety and security of America.
A spot on analysis, as always!
What a wonderful woman!
very nice, joanie! ty for the ping.
Bread & circuses
a story for our souls
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.