Fallen soldiers remembered

Thursday, December 21, 2006
Richard Budig recently completed a 16 X 20" oil portrait of Sgt. Jason T. Palmerton, 25, of Auburn, shown at left. Palmerton died July 23, 2003 in Qal'eh-Yegaz, Afghanistan when he came under enemy small arms fire while conducting a dismounted patrol. Budig wants to paint portraits of all of the 30 Nebraska casualties of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. (Courtesy photo)

Painting portraits of soldiers who have died in the Iraq and Afghan wars is not a political thing for Richard Budig.

"It's difficult to explain, but I get as much from doing it as do the families for whom I do these paintings," he said in a recent e-mail. "I call it psychic income."

Budig, a McCook native who now lives in Oklahoma, so far has painted seven portraits of military men and women from Nebraska who have died. He has also painted one for a family in Skiatook, Okla. where he now lives. His goal is to paint all 30 of the Nebraska men and women in the military who have died in recent Mideast conflicts

For him, this mission is spurred in part by losing his own son, shortly after birth, 48 years ago.

"Somehow, the death of one of my own, albeit a days- old child, touches me still," he said. " I find myself wondering how it is for parents and relatives who lose a child they've raised into young adulthood."

The biggest task can be getting the word out that he is willing to do the portraits free for mothers of the fallen, he said. Budig uses several websites that list war casualties by state and someone in Nebraska has sent him a list of Nebraska casualties. But in some cases he admitted he has to be "his own detective" and find relatives himself.

This is the age of scams, shams and chicanery ...approaching families in mourning is difficult to do without raising suspicion," he said. What has helped the most, he found, is word of mouth and newspaper and magazine articles.

Budig composes the portraits primarily from snapshots and "quickie" pictures taken in high school or home on leave. Photographs present special challenges for painters, he said, such as distortion and clumping of the colors.

Budig has recently finished the portrait of Sgt. Jason T. Palmerton, 25, of Auburn. He is starting his eighth painting of another Nebraska military casualty, Linda Tarango-Gress of North Platte.

"Yes, I'm supporting famiies and troops, but this isn't a pro- or anti- thing," he said. Instead, it's something much more. The notes he receives from the mothers say it all, he said.

"We received the painting yesterday," wrote one mother from Wood River, Neb. "We don't know quite how to thank you for such a wonderful gift. I cried all day?(and that's a good thing.)"

A mother in Clarks, Neb, wrote, "I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing what you did for me."

And that, according to Budig, is what it really is all about.

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