Semper USMC4LIFE Fidelis

A mother's way of honoring her son.

A New Meaning of Semper Fidelis MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, CA
(March 2, 2006)

Karla Comfort received a lot of looks and even some salutes from people when
she drove from Benton, AR, to Camp Pendleton, CA, in her newly-painted,
custom Hummer H3 March 2. The vehicle is adorned with the likeness of her
son, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. John M. Holmason, and nine other Marines with F
Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division who where
all killed by the same improvised explosive device blast in Fallujah, Iraq, in
December.

For Comfort, having the vehicle air brushed with the image of the 10 Marines
was a way to pay homage to her hero and his fellow comrades who fell on
Iraq's urban battlefield.

"I wanted to let people know (Marines) are doing their jobs honorably, and
some of them die," said the 39-year-old from Portland, OR. "I don't want
people to forget the sacrifices that my son and the other Marines made."

Leading up to her son's death, Comfort had received several letters from him
prior to his return. He had been deployed for five months, and Comfort
"worried every day he was gone until she got the letters and found out the
date he was coming home," she said.

Marines knocked on the front door of her home in Farmington, MI, at 3
a.m. with the dreadful news. "I let my guard down when I found out he was
coming home," she said. "There are times that I still cannot believe it
happened. It's very hard to deal with."

Comfort came up with the idea for the rolling memorial when she and her two
other sons attended John's funeral in Portland, OR. "I saw a Vietnam (War)
memorial on a car, and I said to my son Josh, 'we should do something like
that for John,' she recalled. "He loved Hummers."

She purchased the vehicle in January and immediately took it to AirbrushGuy
& Co. in Benton, AR, where artist Robert Powell went to work on changing
the plain, black vehicle into a decorative, mobile, art piece. "I only had the
vehicle for two days before we took it in," she joked. Two hundred and fifty
man-hours later, Powell had completed the vehicle. The custom job would
have cost $25,000. Out of respect for Comfort's loss and the sacrifices the
Marines made, AirbrushGuy & Co. did it for free. Comfort only had to purchase
the paint, which cost $3,000.

"I love it," she said. "I'm really impressed with it, and I think John would
be happy with the vehicle. He would have a big smile on his face because
he loved Hummers." Comfort gave Powell basic instructions on what to
include in the paint job. But in addition to the image of her son in Dress
Blues and the faces of the nine other Marines, there were several surprises.
"He put a lot more on than I expected," she said. "I think my favorite part
is the heaven scene."

On the left side of the vehicle, a detail of Marines are depicted carrying
their fallen comrades through the clouds to their final resting place. The
American flag drapes across the hood, the words, "Semper Fi" crown the front
windshield and the spare tire cover carries the same Eagle Globe and Anchor
design that her son had tattooed on his back. "All the support I have been
getting is wonderful," she said.

Comfort decided to move back to her hometown of Portland, and making the
cross-country trip from Arkansas was a way for her to share her son's story.
It's also her way of coping with the loss. "Along the way I got nothing but
positive feedback from people," she said. "What got to me was when people
would salute the guys (Marines). It's hard to look at his picture. I still
cry and try to get used to the idea, but it's hard to grasp the idea that
he's really gone."