In the military, we say a warrior dies twice.
The first time is when he draws his last breath.
The second time is when somebody
speaks his name for the last time.
You know how when you do something,
that touches you,
you know it?
I'm not Michelangelo.
But I know the world that these people were operating in.
I know what they went through.
And I do have some ability to sculpt, so,
that's what I wanna do.
(mournful violin music)
So, I already told you,
I grew up a rock's throw from here,
on the other side of the field.
You're in downtown Tuscaloosa.
And, um,
very naturally went to the university.
My father had been in banking, so I studied finance.
Used that degree to go into the Marine Corps
and become and infantry officer,
and live in holes in the mud and on board ships
for the next four years.
As I was coming to the end of my,
my first tour on active duty,
I got married, and I wanted to raise a family.
Wanted to be around to do that.
So, I got out and stayed in the Reserves,
which really proved to be a very good move for me.
Of course what typically happens here is,
you break a button off just five minutes
before you're supposed to be there.
We can do this.
So, I retired,
really retired,
right at the end of 2013.
And by that time I was beginning
to play with some clay in my spare time.
And nothing serious.
People asked me,
"how'd you get started?"
And I don't know.
I don't remember
a start point.
I don't remember ever thinking,
gosh, I wanna do this.
I just picked up some clay and started playing with it.
You know, kind of progressed from
kids' Play Doh figures
to things that started looking remotely like human beings.
And you know, I knew very early on, though,
that what I liked doing was portraiture.
People's faces.
And for me, a face is like a puzzle.
You look at somebody and you try to figure out,
I recognize that person instantly,
but what is it about them
that makes me and everybody else recognize them?
What,
what gesture,
or what combination of things
in just the right proportions,
make that person that person?
From a sculpture standpoint,
it's a huge challenge.
You're dealing with a few photographs
that they can pull together.
Usually taken at different ages.
Different lights.
Different angles.
Different gestures.
Some of them laughing.
Some of them looking very serious.
In your mind, you're trying to amalgamate that
into the vision that's in their minds and hearts
of their son, or their husband, or their brother.
And sculpture, if you get it right
from the photograph you're looking at,
you're just starting.
'Cuz now, you've gotta get it right
from all those other angles
that you aren't necessarily able to see.
Because of my background,
because of the,
the two things overlapping,
the military and the interest in the sculpture,
started digging up some of the Alabamians
who'd been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
And, there's a lot.
There's too many.
I just began immersing myself more and more into that
and decided that I would contact one of the families
and see if they were open
to me trying to do a sculpture of their son.
And in this case, it was Johnny Span, up in north Alabama.
And his son, Mike, had been a Marine captain.
And then, uh,
was first American killed
after we cranked up in Afghanistan.
He was working for the CIA at the time.
So Johnny Span listened to me on the phone.
And you know, that's kind of a strange call
to get 10 or 12 years after your loved one
has been killed over there.
But he listened patiently.
Said he would come down.
He eventually did.
We met and got started and,
ultimately after several meetings of coming down,
got the likeness like we wanted it, and,
and cast it.
I'm very happy with it and proud
and glad that the people who helped, helped
and that the Span family got behind it.
And working with the parents.
It's very difficult,
for them.
More difficult than I can imagine.
You know, in general, most of these young people
were killed in '04, '05, '06, '07.
So when you go to talk to somebody about that,
you know, they've put the worst of the pain away.
I mean, they've dealt with it.
And now you ask 'em,
I want you to sit down with me
and let's recreate a likeness of your son.
That's emotionally tough stuff.
I think what motivates them to incur that,
that pain
is very simply, wanting their son or husband remembered.
And I think it takes a lot of
emotional bravery
and courage to do it.
In the doing of it, I'm pretty sure I saw some healing too.
You know, when you see a smile spread across the face.
When you get it.
You know, when that likeness starts to come together
and you know, boom, okay,
that's him.
(somber violin music)
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