The “Lost Heroes Art Quilt” created by artist Julie Feingold in 2009, represents an homage to the fallen heroes in the Iraq and Afghanistan War on Terrorism since September 11, 2001. It is a very moving exhibit, I found it more so than the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. The faces of children bring the sudden impact of war upon our families who have lost their loved ones. There are fifty quilt squares, ten columns in rows of five, one for each state of our republic. Each quilt square represents one life and someone's son or daughter (yes, there are girls with pony tails on the quilt also...). Below is the quilt square representing South Carolina.
Above is South Carolina's square with Army Sergeant Michael Lehmiller of Anderson, SC. The image is one of him as a young boy and the words that surround his boyhood image were gathered by the artist from his mother and family. It is a timeless image, that speaks to a timeless loss and the power of one life. We have only what we remember...
The “Lost Heroes Art Quilt” has been on display across the nation since its dedication in 2009, from the White House and Arlington National Cemetery to the East and West coasts and many state capitals. The “Lost Heroes Art Quilt” is five and one-half feet high by fifteen feet long. On the quilt are religious symbols in four corners and the words “Remember” sewn in charcoal grey thread, this contemporary art quilt addresses the theme of loss, as it is a common emotion that all Americans experience and can share as one community.
Feingold thought it was important to for service members killed in combat to be seen as real people with hopes and dreams and families that loved them - not just statistics. She uses childhood pictures that surprise the viewer and touch the heart, and extracts key words from their mothers' stories to bring the fallen heroes to life on the quilt. Feingold's intent is for people viewing the quilt to learn just one hero's story, that our heroes will not be lost or forgotten. More information about the exhibit's display schedule across the nation and on the “Lost Heroes Art Quilt” itself can be found here...
If you have a chance to view this quilt at Patriots Point or another of its exhibit sites, don't miss it...Our duty as Americans is to remember those who gave all they had...one life.
Watch this video about the quilt featuring the author and family members of one of the quilt squares...