A Different Kind of Support

Meet Jim Morrison, artist and friend of mine.

Some people show their support of the troops by sending cookies, candy, DVDs or books. Jim shows it by painting pictures.

This story appears in the Flat Rock, NC newspaper...

On Veteran's Day, former Air Force pilot James "Jim" Scott Morrison will support our troops in Iraq in a unique way. Morrison, 77, expects to spend part of his day putting the finishing touches on a special watercolor painting of military helicopters in Iraq that he's been working on for the past three months. Then he'll get to sit back and reflect on his third military-themed painting created for U.S. Army troops in Iraq.

Because of his own military experience, Morrison identifies with the brave young service pilots flying for the United States today. After graduating with an economics degree from the University of Nevada at Reno in 1951, he served in the Air Force flying F-86 fighters for four years and RB-66 reconnaissance aircraft for five years.

"I may have a few more rings in the tree, but I still feel like we're all one," Morrison says.

He's enjoyed his contact with several soldiers over the last couple of years while working on the paintings. "In a way, I just kind of bond with them," Morrison says. "It's an intangible feeling, really, it just gives me a feeling like I'm part of what they are. ... It's kind of like family."

He recognizes that our involvement in the Iraq war is controversial. But for Morrison and his painting, any opinions are simply irrelevant.

"To me, it doesn't have anything to do with the war," Morrison says. "It has to do with some kids that are giving 110 percent, and that's all."

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