Army Spc. Charles Neely, of Mattoon, never got to do a lot of things in his life. He never got to go to college, get married or have kids. He never was able to drink legally before his tractor-trailer rolled over as he attempted to access a pontoon bridge while fighting the war in Iraq. He was killed on August 25, 2004; he was 19 years old.

When Eastern student Cameron Schilling, senior political science major, received the call about his high school classmate, he never expected that what was asked of him would change his life forever.

A year and a half later, Schilling was greeted and welcomed by over 30 families whom lost love ones in the war as his “Portrait of a Soldier” memorial was displayed at the Thompson Center in Chicago during Memorial Day weekend.

Sponsored by the Illinois Lieutenant Governor’s Office, Schilling sketched over 120 portraits of soldiers that have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2005 to present. Each portrait was on display at the Thompson Center from May 25-30, but that did not seem to matter for the families whom attended. What mattered to them was in each of the sketches, even if just for a moment, they had their son or daughter, wife or husband back.

The opening ceremonies were filled with high emotions as many of the families got to see the portrait Schilling sketched for the first time. Schilling remembers one family in particular, the family of Marine Cpl. Kevin Clarke, 21, of Tinley Park, who died as a result of hostile action in Iraq.

As Schilling recalled, “The dad was a big biker guy, and he was just balling. I gave him a hug and at that moment I never realized what I have done until I went up there and met the Clarke family.”

Many of the families whom attended were completely overwhelmed when they saw the finished copy of their loved one, said Eric Shuler, senior policy advisor at the Lieutenant Governor’s Office who worked with Schilling personally.

“[The pictures are] just overwhelming,” said Shuler. “Several families say this, that Cameron has captured the eyes unbelievably well. It looks like a person looking back at you. He has captured the soul of the individual in the eyes. It is a true rendition of the loved one.”

Because of his “Portrait of a Soldier” memorial, Schilling has recently acquired a lot of fame, including features done by WGN-TV and appearing on “The Tonight Show.” Schilling owes all his newfound fame, however, to a fallen soldier named Charles Neely.

Schilling, a Mattoon native, graduated a year ahead of Neely in high school. They never were in the same cliques, did the same extracurricular activities or even hold a conversation. So when Schilling got a call from Neely’s family asking for a portrait of their son, the least he could do was oblige.

“When I gave the family the sketch it seemed to help them out a lot,” said Schilling. “It seemed to give them help during the grieving process.”

Having a part-time job doing sketches for a funeral home, Schilling is no amateur when it comes to sketching the dead. That was part of the reason the Neely family contacted him.

In 2005, Schilling was asked to do portraits for service managers of the war who were from Mattoon and died a week after being relieved of duty.

It was after those pictures that Schilling made a decision that would place him on a path that would lead him to that Chicago celebration.

“I kept thinking that not enough attention is being paid to the dead soldiers themselves or who they were,” said Schilling “Sometimes CBS will run something but they are not enough. What these people need is something more than Memorial Day.”

In October 2005, Schilling posted a note on a memorial website saying that he would do a free sketch of a soldier who died in Iraq or Afghanistan. “Portrait of a Soldier” had officially begun.

From October to February, only five families got in contact with Schilling for a portrait.

“It was highly inefficient,” recalls Schilling.

In February, Schilling decided to contact the Lieutenant Governor’s Office in Illinois and ask for help in getting a hold of more families. It was then that Shuler remembers proposing the Memorial Day idea.

“Cameron contacted us needing a way to get a hold of families and our office is in contact with all the families who have lost someone,” recalls Shuler. “It was then that we came up with an idea of doing something special for Memorial Day. In Washington they have the “Faces of the Fallen,” a memorial filled with sketches by different artists of the fallen soldiers from 2003-2004. However, that has not been updated in a while so we and Cameron figured we could have our own memorial like that for Memorial Day.”

In February, the Eastern student was given access to the photos from the Lieutenant Governor’s website. From there, Schilling sketched over 115 soldiers for many different families across state, always keeping up-to-date and never leaving anyone out.

According to Shuler, the pictures have had such a positive response; they have decided to travel with the memorial, hitting the old state capitol in Springfield July Fourth, the state fair in Springfield and the state fair in Dequin on Labor Day. The families will get the pictures the last Sunday in September.

When asked if he would continue with the sketches, Schilling said, “At first, no I was not going to continue. I mean just for Memorial Day, I spent over 500 hours. But meeting the families, I can’t stop. I mean I am not saying I will keep doing it until the war is over, but for right now I want to keep doing them.”

“These are individuals,” said Shuler. “They are not just a name or number. These were living, breathing human beings and they paid the ultimate sacrifice. We should and will never forget them. They sacrificed themselves so we can live as free as we do.”

It is for people like Charles Neely, who risked his life for us to be free. The least we can do is remember him, even if it is through a picture.

Cameron Schilling, a senior political sciences major, works on a sketch of fallen soldier Caleb Lufkin who died in late May. Schilling’s traveling art show has recently been in Chicago and will soon be on display in Springfield.

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