* Tribute With a Hummer *

[Hart1]

Here is a story really worth sharing with everyone.

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (March 2, 2006)

Karla Comfort received a lot of looks and even some salutes from people
when she drove from Benton, Ark., to Camp Pendleton, Calif., in her
newly-painted, custom Hummer H3 March 2. The vehicle is adorned with the
likeness of her son, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. John M. Holmason, and nine
other Marines with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st
Marine Division who where all killed by the same improvised explosive
device blast in Fallujah, Iraq, in December. For Comfort, having the
vehicle air brushed with the image of the 10 Marines was a way to pay
homage to her hero and his fellow comrades who fell on Iraq's urban
battlefield.

"I wanted to let people know (Marines) are doing their jobs honorably,
and some of them die," said the 39-year-old from Portland, Ore. "I
don't want people to forget the sacrifices that my son and the other
Marines made."

Leading up to her son's death, Comfort had received several letters from
him prior to his return. He had been deployed for five months, and
Comfort "worried everyday he was gone until she got the letters and
found out the date he was coming home," she said.

Marines knocked on the front door of her home in Farmington, Mich., at 3
a.m. with the dreadful news. "I let my guard down when I found out he
was coming home," she said. "There are times that I still cannot
believe it happened.

It's very hard to deal with." Comfort came up with the idea for the
rolling memorial when she and her two other sons attended John's funeral
in Portland, Ore. "I saw a Vietnam (War) memorial on a car, and I said
to my son Josh, 'we should do something like that for John,'" she
recalled. "He loved Hummers." She purchased the vehicle in January and
immediately took it to Airbrush Guy & Co. in Benton, Ark., where artist
Robert Powell went to work on changing the plain, black vehicle into a
decorative, mobile, art piece. "I only had the vehicle for two days
before we took it in," she joked. Two hundred and fifty man-hours
later, Powell had completed the vehicle.
>>>The custom job would have cost $25,000. Out of respect for Comfort's
loss and the sacrifices the Marines made, Airbrush Guy & Co. did it for
free. Comfort only had to purchase the paint, which cost $3,000. "I
love it," she said. "I'm really impressed with it, and I think John
would be happy with the vehicle.

He would have a big smile on his face because he loved Hummers."
Comfort gave Powell basic instructions on what to include in the paint
job.

But in addition to the image of her son in Dress Blues and the faces of
the nine other Marines, there were several surprises. "He put a lot
more on than I expected," she said. "I think my favorite part is the
heaven scene."

On the left side of the vehicle, a detail of Marines are depicted
carrying their fallen comrades through the clouds to their final resting
place. The American flag drapes across the hood, the words, "Semper Fi"

>>>crown the front windshield and the spare tire cover carries the same
Eagle Globe and Anchor design that her son had tattooed on his back.
"All the support I have been getting is wonderful," she said. Comfort
decided to move back to her hometown of Portland, and making the
cross-country trip from Arkansas was a way for her to share her son's
story.

It's also her way of coping with the loss. "Along the way I got nothing
but positive feedback from people," she said. "What got to me was when
people would salute the guys (Marines). It's hard to look at his
picture. I still cry and try to get used to the idea, but it's hard to
grasp the idea that he's really gone."