In development of humanities-focused exploration, UnitingUS.org promotes honoring service members killed in combat and recognize the sacrifice of the Fallen’s family, friends, and community. UnitingUS.org veteran artists share their time and talents to build upon the organization’s Stories and Faces of the Fallen program. To date, nearly 200 combat fallen service member portraits and their stories preserve the memories and accomplishments of these brave heroes.
As women’s roles in military service have increased, so has the risk of suffering combat injuries and death. Please take a minute to learn about the Uniting US collection of 21 women killed in combat while bravely serving their country.
Jennifer Moreno
Unit: Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis- McChord, Washington
Branch: U.S. Army
Captain Jennifer Moreno, 25, was one of four soldiers who died October 6, 2013, in the Zhari District, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.
Artist: Alicia Christy
Karen wagner
Unit: Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
Branch: U.S. Army
Lieutenant Colonel Karen Wagner, 40, died September 11, 2001, in Washington D.C., when American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon, killing a total of 189 people.
Artist: Alicia Christy
Maria I Ortiz
Unit: 28th Combat Support Hospital
Branch: U.S. Army
Army Nurse Corps Captain Maria Ortiz, 40, was killed by shrapnel from a mortar attack on July 10, 2007 in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. She was the first female Army nurse killed in combat since the Vietnam War.
Artist: Alicia Christy
Ashley Sietsema
Unit: 708th Medical Company (Ground Ambulance), 108th Medical Battalion, 108th Sustainment Brigade, Illinois Army National Guard
Branch: U.S. Army
Specialist Ashley Sietsema, 20, died November 12, 2007, in Kuwait City, Kuwait, while conducting a routine patient transfer from Camp Buehring to Camp Arifjan when she was involved in a single-vehicle accident.
Artist: Alicia Christy
SGT Barbaralien Banks
Unit: Division Artillery, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, HI
Branch: U.S. Army
Specialist Piestewa, 41, died on April 6, 2005 when a CH-47 helicopter she was riding in crashed in Ghazni, Afghanistan. The Chinook transport helicopter crash killed 18 military and civilians making it the single largest loss of U.S. life in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
Artist: Alicia Christy
PFC Amy Duerksen
Unit: 4th Combat Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Ft Hood, Texas
Branch: US Army
Pfc Duerksen enlisted in the Army in April 2005 and deployed with her unit on Christmas Day. She died on March 11, 2007 sustained in a non-combat incident on March 8.
Artist: Alicia Christy
Jaime Jaenke
Unit: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25, U.S. Navy Reserve
Branch: U.S. Navy
Hospital Corpsman Second Class Jaime Jaenke, 29, was one of two Sailors that died June 5, 2006, when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Anah, Al Anbar province in Iraq.
Artist: Alicia Christy
Nicole Gee
Unit: Combat Logistics Battalion 24 Expeditionary Brigade
Branch: U.S. Marine Corps
Sgt Gee, 23, served on a Female Engagement Team to facilitate evacuation support for Afghan women and children.. She, along with 12 other American service members were killed August 26, 2021 in the initial blast of a suicide bomber and the gunfire that followed. A week prior, Sgt Gee made a social media post remarking “I love my job”.
Artist: Alicia Christy
PAMELA D DONOVAN
Inspired by the news stories about the brave American soldiers in Vietnam, LT Pamela Donovan knew what she wanted to do. Determined to go to Vietnam, she become the only member of her Irish immigrant family to obtain U.S. citizenship. Shortly after she arrived in Vietnam, an illness claimed her life on July 8, 1968.
Artist: Alicia Christy
ELEANOR ALEXANDER
Captain Eleanor Alexander, 27, joined the Army to go to Vietnam. She was restless working in the calm of a Qui Nhon hospital and sought a transfer to Pleiku, near the fierce fighting of the Battle of Dak To. Alexander wrote “I’ve been running on about four hours sleep…I love it.” Captain Alexander and LT Hedwig Orlowski, a 23-year-old, were killed on November 30, 1967 when their plane crashed into a mountainside.
Artist: Alicia Christy
HEDWIG D ORLOWSKI
LT Hedwig Orlowski, a 23-year-old, and Captain Eleanor Alexander were killed on November 30, 1967 when their plane crashed into a mountainside. The plane was heading back to Qui Nhon hospital after a temporary assignment to Pleiku, near the fierce fighting of the Battle of Dak To.
Artist: Kimberly Johnson
ELIZABETH JONES
At the age of 22, Lt Elizabeth Jones was successfully caring for the injured soldiers and she was planning her wedding to another military member. However, the helicopter she, her fiancé, and her colleague LT Carla Drazba were in crashed near Saigon on February 18, 1966. LT Jones and LT Drazba were the first American women to lose their lives in the Vietnam War.
Artist: Kimberly Johnson
MARY T KLINKER
Just prior to the fall of Siagon, Captain Mary Klinker, an Air Force Flight Nurse, was part of Operation Babylift. Hundreds of South Vietnamese children were evacuated in the spring of 1975 and Captain Klinker was among the overcrowded cargo plane that crashed into a rice paddy shortly after takeoff on April 4, 1975.
Artist: Maria Carrion
SHARON ANN LANE
On June 8, 1969, an enemy attack claimed the life of LT Sharon Lane, 25, at her hospital in Chu Lai. A rocket was fired at the hospital in the early hours that hit the center of LT Lane’s ward. She was hit by shrapnel and killed instantly.
Artist: Alicia Christy
Sgt Johanny Rosario Pichardo
Unit: Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade
Branch: U.S. Marine Corps
Sgt Pichardo, 25, was one of twelve soldiers who died August 26, 2021, helping two Afghan women during evacuation efforts. She, along with 12 other American service members were killed in the initial blast of a suicide bomber and the gunfire that followed.
Artist: Alicia Christy
Victoria Pinckney
Unit: 93rd Air Refueling Squadron, Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington
Branch: U.S. Air Force
Captain Victoria Pinckney, 27, was one of three airmen who died May 3, 2013, near Chon-Aryk, Kyrgyzstan, in the crash of a KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft during a combat aerial refueling mission.
Artist: Alicia Christy
Megan McClung
Unit: I Marine Expeditionary Force
Branch: U.S. Marine Corps
Major Megan McClung, 34, was one of three active duty service members who died instantly on December 6, 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq, when a massive improvised explosive device destroyed their vehicle.
Artist: Alicia Christy
CPL Jennifer Marie Parcell
Unit: D CO, CLR-3, 3D MLG, Okinawa, Japan
Branch: US Marine Corps
CPL Parcell, volunteered to work the Lioness program, female Marines would interact with the Muslim women in towns and villages on patrol. On February 7, 2007, only weeks before she was to go home, CPL Parcell was on guard duty at her base. A female suicide bomber approached and detonated her bomb. Parcell was severely wounded in the attack. She succumbed to those injuries a short time later.
Artist: Alicia Christy
SPC Lori Piestewa
Unit: 507th Maintenance Company, Fort Bliss, TX
Branch: U.S. Army
Specialist Piestewa, 23, was the first women killed in the Iraq war. During a convoy with her company on March 23, 2003, they were ambushed in Nasiriyah. After she drove a high-speed evading enemy fire, Piestewa’s Humvee was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade. She and the rest of the surviving convoy were taken prisoner. Piestewa died from injuries sustained in the ambush while being held prisoner.
Artist: Alicia Christy
Lt Col Annie Ruth Graham
Unit: LTC, US Army Nurse
Branch: US Army
Graham, highest-ranking among women serving in Vietnam and was a seasoned veteran who had served during World War II and the Korea War. She was planning to retire after more than two decades of service. On her final assignment, Graham suffered a stroke and later died at the age of 51 on August 14, 1968.
Artist: Annette Polan
2LT Carol Ann Elizabeth Drazba
Unit: 2 LT, US Army Nurse
Branch: US Army
Early in the war, Nurse roles were away from the front lines, until helicopters began expediting the wounded transport to medical care. Drazba and Elizabeth Ann Jones were the first military women lost in Vietnam when their helicopter transport crashed near Saigon on February 18, 1966. Both ladies were 22 years old.
Artist: Annette Polan
artists
Alicia Christy
Army Veteran: 1981-2003
About the Art: Alicia’s recent “Faces of the Fallen: Women Proudly Served began the discussion of honoring the Vietnam Women Faces of the Fallen. Alicia’s precise eye and effortless strokes capture the emotion of her subject, bringing them to life on her watercolor paper. Her portraits celebrate strong and unselfish people she chooses to honor.
About the Artist: Alicia is an African American author, illustrator, physician, and Army Veteran. She feels great privilege of caring for active-duty service women and women veterans for more than 30 years. In addition to providing them with care, she uses her artwork to honor them. Her series of portraits, “Faces of the Fallen: Women Proudly Served,” is a tribute to women who lost their lives in service to our country, including Lieutenant Colonel Karen Wagner, who was her Company Commander when she was stationed at Walter Reed.
Artist’s Experience: “Painting gives voice to my feelings and provides great solace. Women who have served our nation and paid the ultimate sacrifice deserve to be honor.”
Kimberly Johnson
Army Veteran: 1990-1991
About the Art: As a professional artist, Kimberly adapts her art practice to overcome her physical limitations to continue to create such detailed artworks. Living from a resilience framework, Kimberly’s positive attitude and determination to see the calm beauty in life stands as a sign of resilience and strength. When life’s downward spiral hits through war, injuries, trauma, chaos, PTSD, or anxiety there is always a calmness and beauty, remind yourself to just stop and take a moment to find symbols of connections and meaning.
About the Artist: Kimberly is a 100% Disabled US veteran with 4 great boys. She spends her time painting and doing art projects to help cope with the pain she faces daily from a broken back she sustained during active duty. In addition to her time in the Army, Kimberly was a military spouse who quickly learned the responsibilities of being the primary parent who unselfishly took the role to be the steadfast supporter for the boys during the endless moves, active duty demands, and deployments. The perspective Kimberly holds between the “Peace” and “War” across the spectrum of the family construct.
Artist Statement: “The most important aspect of my art, is how it makes others and me feel. My art is a work from the heart and I hope that shines through in my paintings and brings enjoyment to others. Thank you for recognizing the contributions of women in service.”
Maria Carrion
Marine Veteran: 1977-1983
About the Art: Maria, a lifelong professional artist, has long identified Captain Mary Klinker as a prominent figure representing women in service. The artwork made by Maria stems from her personal experiences and desire to honor the services of many, the healing power of the arts, and the uniting of all people.
About the Artist: As a young teenager, Maria worked as an artist in New York painting for churches and commission pieces. Determined to be of service to her country, Maria enlisted in the Marines. After serving, she returned to New York to passionately pursue opportunities to promote veterans and wellness.
Artist’s Experience: “Artwork helps create a visual picture for the emotions and experiences of being in the service. I sell my artwork to support struggling women veterans to gain independence and hope these portraits help people recognize the significant military service contributions made by women in this country.”
Annette Polan
Army Family Member WWII
About the Art: Annette Polan, a prominent Washington, D. C. portrait artist and professor at the Corcoran College of Art and Design conceived Faces of the Fallen. She was inspired by photographs of the Iraq war’s casualties that appeared in the newspaper and organized more than 200 artists, ranging from professionals to students, to paint the portraits of 1,327 service members who died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars from 2001 to 2005.
About the Artist: Annette Polan is known internationally as a portrait artist – she painted the official portrait of Sandra Day O’Connor, the country’s first female Supreme Court Justice. She is Professor Emerta from The Corcoran College of Art and Design at George Washington University, where she was a chair of the painting department. Annette was awarded the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Outstanding Public Service Award for “Faces of the Fallen” which she founded and chaired in 2005-2007 to honor American Service Men and Women Killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Artist’s Experience: “At the opening of the Faces of the Fallen, I learned the power of art and I’ve never forgotten. Art is so much more than something beautiful to hang on the wall, art creates community and can bring people together!”