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Soldiers • May 2009 21 life now is doing these portraits, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. And he has essentially given up his life to draw those who have given up theirs,” Herzberg said. Once, Reagan had the dad of a fallen hero call and accuse him of getting something out of the project, though Reagan reiterated he was doing everything for free. The man insisted he was being rewarded. “I got a little upset with him and said ‘Well, no I’m not,’” Reagan recalled, “and he said ‘Sure you are, Mike, you’re getting to come home from Vietnam.’ And he was right. I kept wondering what was happening to me, what was changing inside of me, and what was changing was after 40 years I was being able to come home. That’s my reward.” “I didn’t know I hadn’t come home,” Reagan added, but after com- pleting the first portrait, something changed. Reagan said he was able to feel love in a different way. Some families are skeptical at first, waiting for Reagan or the project to ask for money. But once they discover that these portraits are gifts and tributes to the fallen, the family is greatly relieved, Herzberg explained. “This is more than the image of their fallen hero on art board. It’s the idea that somebody could love them so much without ever having met them to give them a gift like this. And at some point that kindles some spark, whether its hope or faith or just the idea that there is goodness left when it seems that most of it has been stripped away,” Herzberg said. Gene and Eva Jo Stephens received a portrait of their son, Sgt. 1st Class John Scott Stephens, from Reagan and were stunned by the resemblance. “I couldn’t believe how much this “I’m supposed to do this.” (Small photos) Michael Reagan shades portraits in his home studio. (Left sketch) Portrait of Sgt. 1st Class John Scott Stephens, fallen Soldier. Stephens was a combat medic who loved sports. His parents, Gene and Eva Jo Stephens, find great comfort in this picture and have it placed prominently in their house. (Right sketch) Sgt. Joshua Brennan, fallen hero. Michael Reagan said he is driven by love to pro- vide drawings like this to families of the fallen. Images courtesy of Michael Reagan