Janelle F. King died in Baghdad on August 14, 2008. Her hometown is Merced, CA and she was 23 years old. She was a health care specialist in the 115th Combat Support Hospital and she died from a "non combat-related cause". She was laid to rest at Fort Sill in Lawton, OK.

I know all of this about Janelle because of The Mother's Day Project. I volunteered to stitch a name of a woman that died while serving our country and hers was sent to me. I didn't know how profoundly this would affect me. Merced is just about 20 miles from where I lived as a child. Lawton isn't far from where I lived as a young adult. Her cousin, LaVeta King, said about her, "She lived her life from one passionate whim to another". She loved the Food Network. I'm glad that I have this opportunity to share a little bit about her here on my site.

I didn't know exactly what to expect with this project. It started out as a way to draw attention to the human cost of the Iraq War. No matter what your views on the war, the fact is that people are putting their lives on the line and some of them don't return. This was my small way to pay tribute and be a part of something bigger than me.

They are still looking for volunteers to stitch names. Send your contact information to mothersdayproject AT sbcglobal DOT net if you would like to participate.

I also wrote a little bit about the project at Crafty Nation. You can see my blog post there.

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