About Us
An example of how a tremendous loss can pave the way for something
incredibly meaningful, originally named The Texas Fallen Soldiers Project, our organization was born out
of a family tragedy that occurred in May 2007. Shortly after taking
Phil Taylor’s youngest daughter to the prom and just a few days before
graduating from high school, Ben Dossett was killed in a motorcycle
accident in his hometown of Frisco, Texas. Out of a desire to help his
daughter through the tragedy and to honor Ben and his family, Phil
painted tirelessly through the night and the following day to have a
portrait of Ben ready to present to the Dossett family before the funeral. The experience of
painting a portrait of someone taken too soon and then having the
opportunity to give this gift to a grieving family was very profound and, at
the moment he received the hug of gratitude from Ben’s father, Phil new his life had changed.
He then contacted a long time friend whose brother, Capt. Blake Russell, had been killed
in Iraq on July 22, 2006. When attending Blake's
funeral, Phil had observed an incredible outpouring of American
patriotism, which affected him greatly, but at the time he did not know how he could help. After the experience of painting the portrait of Ben, Phil knew he wanted to try to restore Blake on canvas for his family. The
reaction from the Russell family upon receiving their portrait was
confirmation that the paintings were a way to bring comfort and
peace to a grieving family. From that moment on, Phil and his wife, Lisa, knew he had to
continue sharing this gift with as many families as possible.
In August 2007 artist, Phil Taylor, delivered the first portrait of The American Fallen Soldiers Project .
Army Capt. Blake Russell was the first of many to be painted and, in
the following five months, six more portraits were presented to
deserving families. Initially Phil began by searching for families who
had lost a loved one in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but by the end
of 2007, many had heard of his mission of comfort through local
newspaper and television stories and in 2008, what began with seven
portraits had now become 24 with new requests arriving daily from the
Gold Star families.
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