8/28/08 - Today is a very proud day for me. Through sheer luck, I was given the chance to design and paint a mural on a DELTA AIRLINES MEMORIAL CART used with HONOR and RESPECT for our FALLEN HEROES when they are brought home.
Today, the CART and myself were on the front page/as a feature story/ of the BEACON, the Va Bch bi-weekly insert in the VA PILOT.

Here's the story:

By Irene Bowers

Correspondent

BAYSIDE

A baggage cart is an ugly thing - grimy, scuffed and rusted from the extremes of weather. Every day as passengers settle into seats, these workhorses handle the contents of planes' holds, including the bodies of the dead.

Delta Global Services station manager Shawn Williams, 25, is proud of his team and the work they do at Norfolk International Airport. But Williams worried about the carts for one reason.

"I didn't feel right about using them to transfer the bodies of service members killed in action," he said. "They gave everything for us. I thought a memorial cart was the least we could do to honor them."

Military planes deliver the bodies of service members killed in action into Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

They are received at the military's only continental port mortuary, the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs with a military escort, said 2nd Lt. Brian Maguire, public affairs officer at Dover.

The bodies are sent to hometowns across America, via contracted air or land carriers. Typically, arrangements are handled by casualty assistance services at military commands or through funeral directors at the family's request.

"There isn't always an honor guard present when the flag-draped coffin is unloaded," in Norfolk, Williams said.

For those occasions, a memorial cart will lend dignity to the transfer from plane to hearse, which is typically parked out of view.

A similar project was dedicated last year when Delta employees in Philadelphia donated several memorial carts, said Lt. Col. Les' Melnyk, defense press officer with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.

"This is one way commercial industries show their appreciation for the military," he said.

Williams hoped to clean, repaint and add decals to the old cart donated by Delta, and turned to Complete Automotive Inc. of Virginia Beach owned by Richard Kelly Jr., a 1979 Kempsville High graduate. The Diamond Springs area business is 20 years old and specializes in automotive mechanical and body repair or refinishing..

"It took a couple of months to pull it all together but it was worth it," Kelly said of the project, which cost an estimated $10,000 worth of donated time and materials.

Kelly's crew sanded and painted the underside, interior and exterior.

Bay Mechanical of Virginia Beach sandblasted and primed the interior and exterior. QED Systems, an engineering company, that provides technical, logistical and engineering services, provided transportation between shops as well as welding services. Superior Auto Paints and BASF supplied paint.

"We wanted to support our troops by giving them a respectful tribute," said Sally Carlson, sales director for Superior Auto Paints.

Both ends received gold lettering, "Honoring Our Fallen Heroes," dedicated by ORF Team Delta. Virginia Beach's Signs of Success donated the logos on the carts.

The interior of the cart received rubber matting and composite wood board slats. The walls were sheathed in aluminum diamond plate, donated by Chesapeake Sound and Professional Welding of Norfolk. Tidewater Graphics of Chesapeake contributed a large American decal for the rooftop.

Chesapeake-based artist Harrison Smyth of KILLRPAINT was asked to airbrush artwork on one side of the cart.

"Truthfully, my first reaction was that I couldn't afford to do a freebie, but when they explained what it was for, I jumped on it," he said.

"You can't put a price on that."

His design took two and a half days to paint, and features the symbolic empty boots bearing rifle and helmet in a beach setting that pays homage to airmen, seamen, submariners and ground forces.

"Clouds bear images of soldiers welcoming comrades home, and a large scroll bears the message "With Honor and Respect for Our Fallen Heroes."

Mark Jones, president of QED Services, said, "It is truly a work of art and reflects their love and appreciation for the men and women who died for our country."

Until needed, the memorial cart sits beneath the Delta terminal, unseen by passengers or airport guests.

Not one of the donors minds, their common sentiment is echoed in Smyth's response to the finished product.

"I hope it brings some comfort to the families of the fallen," he said. "But, really, I hope it never gets used."