Greenville, NC

Title: In Memory: Sgt. Joshua A. Schmit,
         Sept. 30, 1980-April 14, 2007
Media: graphite on paper

Sgt. Schmit was a man I served with in Iraq from May 2006-April 2007.  He was killed when his Humvee, which he lovingly named “Kryptonite,” was hit by a roadside bomb (IED).  He was fearless and never hesitated or failed to do his job even though he had been involuntarily recalled back into the military only days after his wedding.  Only about 5 feet tall and usually grumpy about the state of the situation, he used the call sign “Angry Dwarf.”  It suited him perfectly. Fighting mad til the end, given ‘em hell Sgt. Schmit.

Title: In Memory: Sgt. Brandon L. Wallace,
                        Feb. 26, 1980-April 14, 2007
Media: graphite on paper

This is a man I served with In Iraq from May 2006-April 2007.  He was killed alongside Sgt. Schmit when their Humvee hit a roadside bomb (IED).  This man was always the life of the party wherever he was and people around him were touched by his infectious passion for life.  As a scout gunner he was tasked with clearing the route preceding the rest of his team and the convoy—the first to find waiting danger and warn his friends.  Sgt. Wallace showed his love for them the only way he knew how—with everything he had.  May we all meet again but until then, “I keep moving through the dark with you in my heart, my blood brother.”

Abigail Cochran became a student at East Carolina University in 2002, first as a painting and drawing major, now as a sculpture major.  Abby had joined the National Guard in 2000 as a way to fund her education, and she has been deployed twice, once for two years in support of Operation Noble Eagle and most recently to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  She returned home in May 2007, is now back in school full-time, and has chosen not to re-enlist in the National Guard.