The Lima Company Traveling Memorial 

Anita Miller awoke one October morning in 2005 from a dream about a memorial she was about to create.  She was neither planning on making this memorial or had even given it any thought.  It came to her in a dream.

Anita is a resident of Columbus, Ohio and like every other resident of Midwestern Ohio had recently heard about Lima Company of the 3^rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment. 

In Ohio, you need no further unit designation than Lima Company.  Everyone in Central Ohio knows that the Ohio-based Marine reserve unit once known as “Lucky Lima” has been one of the hardest hit single units in Operation Iraqi Freedom suffering the deaths of 22 Marines and their Navy Corpsman. Lima Company quickly became nationally known to include the release of a recent two hour special which aired on A & E. 

Anita is a liturgical artist and is working diligently to depict these fallen warriors through her art.  She is in the process of creating eight painted panels set in an octagon that will depict portraits of each of the 22 fallen Marines and the Navy corpsman.  In front of each portrait will be an ever-living candle and appropriate sized bronzed combat boots.

On the exterior of the octagonal Memorial, the panels will list the entire Lima 3/25 roster, as well as identify the portraits of the Fallen and their statistics.  A shelf at the bottom of the panel will allow for flowers or mementos to be left by the public.  This will be a mobile memorial similar to the traveling Vietnam Memorial known as “The Moving Wall”.  It is Anita’s hope that this tribute to this unit will be seen throughout Ohio and even the greater United States and will become the first artwork ever put on display in the rotunda of the Ohio State Capitol.

Anita’s desire to do this memorial is moving.  She knows very little about the Marine Corps and couldn’t tell you the difference between a platoon and a company or a Staff Sergeant and a Colonel.  But she has been touched by this tragedy and feels a real calling to use her abilities to make this tribute to the men of Lima Company.  She does realize that the Marines are special in their own right and unique among military units throughout the world and continues to try to understand what Marines are really like through her conversations with past and present day Marines.

The research Anita has put into this effort is extensive.  She has attempted to contact all the families and learn as much as possible about the personalities of these men.  It is her intent to depict their personalities in their faces and has used terms such as warm, compassionate, generous, kind and selfless in describing the way family members have talked about these men.  Anita talks about these men with a passion and an understanding that one would think she actually knew them. 
 
 The paintings in the pictures are the initial efforts in creating this memorial and the final effort will be life-sized depictions of the real Marines and sailor right down to the 6’ 7” Sergeant Justin Hoffman.   These initial paintings show the incredible amount of detail she has put into this work and the faces are incredibly life-like and easily recognizable.  

Phyllis Lyons, the mother of LCpl Christopher Lyons stated “this is a great tribute to these young men who so valiantly and courageously gave their lives for our freedom. The memorial portraits captures their courage, honor, integrity, and unity and will speak to us, the parents and American people, for generations to come of our respect, eternal love, and honor for our heroes of Lima 3/25, Operation Iraqi Freedom. I believe it also honors their brothers- in-arms that came home as well for this was their unit, their brothers also, their war. We do not forget them either. To me, as a Mother of one of these young men, it is so important our sons are not forgotten or those that fought along side them. This will ensure that happens. I am humbled and honored to have this Memorial (of my son and his brothers-in arms) done in their Memory."

These members of Lima Company actually span 7 states. Anita is working in cooperation with the families of the fallen, and they often visit the studio to offer moral support. There are several retired Marines and friends of the fallen who are assisting her as well. 

This work is currently in process and Anita hopes to have it completed and on display by late 2007.  You can visit Anita’s website at www.theartistsroost.com. 

Mark Gruenberg

GySgt, USMC Retired