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Benton businesses come together to create a memorial for a mother |
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Wednesday, 26 December 2007 |
 Deborah Getz of Roseville, Calif., flew into Benton on Friday for the unveiling of her new Hummer purchased from Landers Hummer. Robert Powell of AirbrushGuy and Co. in Benton spent five months dedicating a memorial to Getz’s son, who died in the Iraq war. The custom paint job is valued at $25,000, but Powell said Getz only paid for the paint because he donated the labor. Getz said that the Hummer will be transported back to California using an 18-wheeler.
“This is one of the most honorable ways to remember a strong, beautiful young man,” Deborah Getz of California said. “I want people to remember that there are those that sacrifice [for our freedoms].”
On Dec. 21, nine months after her son, Kristofer Douglas Scott Thomas, was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan and four days before Christmas, Landers Hummer and AirbrushGuy and Co. unveiled a tribute Getz said she will never forget. A new Hummer that Getz purchased from Landers rolled into the display room, covered with pictures of her son and seven other soldiers who died on Feb. 17. The custom paint job also includes Army emblems.
“This Hummer is amazing,” Getz told the crowd. “For the first time in my life, I am really just speechless. All I can really say is, ‘Wow!’”
After her son was killed, Getz put together a Web site (www.neverforgetourfallen.com) to honor her son and for others who have lost a family member in the Iraq war.
Not long after her son died, she said she and her husband, Eddie, were riding around when she suddenly told him that she was going to buy a Hummer. She said she was originally going to purchase a Hummer near her home in California, but she received an email from a friend that told her about a man in Benton that airbrushed three previous vehicles with memorials to fallen soldiers in the Iraq war.
“I went to his Web site [www.airbrushguy.com] and just asked him some questions,” said Getz. “About two hours later I got a call from Victoria Powell who said that her husband [Robert] had to airbrush a vehicle for me after finding out the story of my son [from getz Web site]. He told me that I would need to pay for the supplies [paint], but that all of the labor from him would be for free. When she said that I just started crying. I told her that I didn’t want anything for free. I just didn’t raise my sons that way and I didn’t know if I could let him do that, but she said that he insisted, so I then searched for a Hummer dealer in Benton and contacted Landers Hummer.”
This is the fourth vehicle with an airbrushed memorial that Robert Powell has created. One is a motorcycle and he said that this might be his last, though he doesn’t regret any of the long hours of work. He said that the whole process took about 5 months to work on this particular project with one month to get the vehicle ready to be airbrushed. It was another four “long” months of labor, but he said that it was definitely worth it.
“Deborah just touched me with her story and the way that her son died,” Robert Powell said. “She sent me a scrap book of pictures and some information about a few things she wanted, like the U.S. Army Ranger crest, and I went from there. The entire project cost around $25,000, but I didn’t charge her for the labor, just the paint ... I donated all the time I spent on the paint job. I started with a picture of Kristofer with the hands of God behind him and four months later we finally got the finished project. When she saw it on Friday, it took her awhile to take it all in, and I think she is still glowing about it.”
Getz said that her son was 17 when he joined the United States Army after graduating a semester early from Roseville High School in Roseville, Calif., in 2006. Thomas soon became the youngest soldier to become a U.S. Army Ranger, which Getz said was her son’s dream from an early age.
“At age 15, Kristofer was already trying to get into the [U.S.] Army,” said Getz. “He scored a 98 on the ASVAB test and he ended up getting into the military with virtually any job that he wanted to get because of his high test score. He even wrote an essay at the age of 16 that is on my Web site, www.neverforgetourfallen.com, in which he talked about going into the U.S. Army.”
Kristofer Thomas wrote in his essay, “I will be leaving for the U.S. Army on Feb. 7, 2006. My active duty MOS will be Air-Born infantry. After I complete Air-Born school, I will learn how to properly jump from 30,000 feet into a hostile environment ... I most likely will go to a hostile country which may include Iraq ... I became more aware of the problems that we are facing in this country and others - due to the fact that we are at a time of war. I questioned the reasons why we are at war, good and bad. I came to the conclusion that people fighting for the U.S. are everyday people, my brother Nic included. I don’t want to just sit back and watch the casualty numbers climb. I need to do something to help out; that's why I signed up for the Army. My community and the rest of the U.S. hopefully will benefit from my contribution in the U.S. Army as I will do my best in order to carry out all missions assigned to me...there are always others willing to make a choice for the greater good of society, to fight for the rights of those that need them the most, whether it be a fight in the field or a battle against AIDS, whatever the case may be, we need people to help those who are oppressed, that’s a fact. With dreams of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger ... I made it ... I’m an Air-Born Ranger.”
Getz said that her son would be proud of the memorial on the Hummer, but she emphasized that what he would be most proud of is that his fellow soldiers who died with him on that day were recognized.
“It isn’t just about my son,” Getz said. “It is about all the soldiers making a sacrifice to protect our freedoms.”
The Hummer left Benton to California inside an 18-wheeler trailer because Getz said that she and her husband aren’t experienced with driving in snow and don’t want to take the chance of damaging the vehicle.
“You can replace a vehicle, but you can’t replace this one,” said Getz. “So I won’t see it again until after Christmas and we’ll have another unveiling of the vehicle on the 29th at our home in California. I can’t thank Landers and the Powells enough. They all just went above and beyond anything that I expected. A thank you just isn’t big enough. My husband told me that I should have seen my face when I first saw it. I just couldn’t ask for anything more from Landers and the Powell family.”
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