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Edmonds Artist Keeps Memories of America's Fallen Heroes Alive

Michael Reagan has drawn 2,730 portraits of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, including Marine Lance Cpl. Shane Clanin Swanberg of Kirkland.

The numbers are staggering—2,730 portraits drawn and counting—but it’s the personal investment artist Michael Reagan has put toward the families of slain military service members that is inspiring.

On January 23, 2007, Michael Kashkoush, a Marine from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, who learned Arabic and worked in counterintelligence, was killed in Anbar Province, Iraq.  A few months later, after talking with Kashkoush’s family and getting a photo from them, Reagan drew a portrait of the 24-year-old man and sent it to his father, Marwan Kashkoush.  On Wednesday night, Marwan Kashkoush, who now lives in Queen Anne, met Reagan for the first time, face-to-face. 

There was another father in the crowd.

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His name: Joe Colgan.  This past Tuesday, Nov. 1, was the eighth anniversary of his son’s passing during The Iraq War.  Benjamin Colgan was born on February 7, 1973.  He joined The Army and died in combat on November 1, 2003 when he was 30 years old.  Benjamin was the fourth of eight kids. 

Joe Colgan met Reagan because Joe’s daughter Elizabeth knew a woman who used to work with Reagan at The University of Washington.  Joe was reluctant at first to connect with Reagan.  Joe said, “When I first heard his name, I thought he was President Reagan’s son.  I figured, nope, not going to go there.”  Later, it was clarified that Michael Reagan “the artist” was not President Reagan’s son, and Colgan allowed Reagan to draw a portrait of his son, Benjamin.

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Joe Colgan who also served in the U.S. Army said, “The picture of my son is priceless.  It allows me to tell people stories of his life. The portrait really honors my son and his memory.”  The elder Colgan retired from Puget Power after 38 years of employment in June 2004. These days he helps out Reagan by volunteering his time with The Fallen Heroes Project. 

Reagan gave a glimpse into the raw emotions that have arisen from these relationships over the last eight years during a presentation to about 50 people at Third Place Commons Wednesday night.

In 2003, Reagan, a Vietnam Veteran who served as a Marine, turned his talents to pencil-drawn portraits of American and now all members of coalition forces killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he does it for free, with no gimmicks to what he does, he said.  “When I draw these people I’m truly awed that families allow me to do this,” he said. “My weeks are tough. Friends take care of me because the (families) need it.” 

Reagan drew a portrait of Kirkland's , a 2000 Juanita High graduate and U.S. Marine lance corporal killed in Iraq in 2005, that is treasured by the soldier's mother.

"It's very touching," Linda Clanin Swanberg told Kirkland Patch in September. "The portrait, it brings Shane home. It's beyond words what it means to us."

You can see it on the Fallen Heroes Project web site here.

Recently, Reagan has taken on the task of sketching pictures of American soldiers who committed suicide.  Some of these deaths happened after combat and others who never left American soil.

Reagan boils down what he is trying to do as this: create a portrait that recreates the moment of when they knew they loved that person.

Even with President Obama removing most of the troops from Iraq, the war in Afghanistan continues. And more troops are being killed. For Reagan, who spends his Wednesday afternoons mapping out what portraits he will do for the next week, there’s more phone calls to families to make, pictures to get from them and biographies to read.  Always more to do.

But it’s something that Reagan has pledged to do, that he wants to do— something he won’t stop doing until his days are done and someone draws his portrait.

Reagan has drawn portraits of three-quarters of the Washington state veterans who have been killed in the wars.

Reagan’s work has been featured countless times in the media. The initial stirrings of this work occurred while Reagan was in Vietnam in 1967-68 and drew portraits of his fellow service members on C-Ration boxes.

Reagan has received assistance along the way: a graphics company in Florida supplies him with the drawing boards he uses for the portraits and a German pencil company with U.S. offices in Nevada gives him an unlimited supply of pencils.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 8870, has been a consistent supporter of the project and donated $1,000 Wednesday night.

Reagan is a retired artist for the University of Washington and now draws a pension from that job. But his talents were showcased best in his portraits of famous people.  The talent is still there, but he’s applied it to a greater cause— giving peace of mind to families of soldiers who aren’t well known.  Reagan says what he does is a calling and he shared experiences he’s had with the families of the dead soldiers and other military personnel.  He read moving poems written to him by several parents.

Reagan said doesn’t delve much into the politics of the wars, but he does get upset when people blame the government for not taking care of soldiers better.  “Take it upon yourself to do things to help that,” he said.

“Every soldier has his own page on my Web site,” he said. “These are incredible individuals.”

The families biggest fear is that their loved one’s sacrifice will be forgotten, Reagan said.  What’s constant, is that we can love and we can care and remember,” he said.

To support what Reagan does go to www.fallenheroesproject.org and make a donation. 

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