Kim Cole's life was forever altered in January 2007. Her son, Cpl. Darrel Morris, who had joined the Marine Corps in 2004, was killed in action when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off.

Shortly afterward, Cole registered for the state's Gold Star Mothers group and began a relationship with another mother who had lost her son in 2004. Her new friend told Cole about a group she was forming called Time of Remembrance. The plan was that all of the families of the fallen in Washington could gather one weekend a year to share memories, find strength and, of course, cry together.

"It is the group no one wants to belong to, but we are probably each other's best support," she said. "We cry a lot that weekend. A lot. Yet as crappy as it all is, we cannot wait until September when we can all be together again."

At the group's first meeting, someone suggested creating banners of the fallen family members, yet the cost of close to $100 per banner was prohibitive. Cole, however, couldn't just dismiss the idea, so she went ahead and made one for her son. Then she went home and told her husband, Mik, that she was going to just do them all herself, out of pocket.

"He looked at me and said, ‘obviously you don't know how to ask for help,'" she said with a laugh. So she began to solicit donations from organizations like Kiwanis and got involved with the Veterans of Foreign War's (VFW) ladies auxiliary to spearhead fundraising. At that moment, she became the chairperson of the Fallen Soldier Banner Project.

In the first year (2008), 33 banners were completed. Right now, Cole and her group have about 150 banners made - yet she is quick to point out that there are still another 350 banners that need to be made. This includes not only Servicemembers killed downrange, but also those who have lost their lives due to PTSD-related suicide.

"If they are from this state and serving the country and sacrificed, we want to honor them," she said.

Cole's ties to the military run deep. She was raised an Air Force brat and her husband as an Army brat, and her oldest daughter still serves on active duty at Travis Air Force Base. Cole works with the National Guard family programs at the readiness center in Spokane. 

"The war is sort of old news after this many years, and people don't pay attention," she said. "The biggest thing for me and these other families is that we don't want you to forget."

For Veterans Day, the group sent banners to nine different cities across the state in order to promote awareness, with the help of Alaska Airlines, which gave them a $10,000 grant to transport the banners back and forth.

"Darrel is not just a casualty of war - he is a hero who fought and who has a family that loves and misses him," Cole concluded. "We'll never forget. No one else should either."

To donate to the Fallen Soldier Banner Project, email Cole at mkc1220@msn.com.

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