Fallen Heroes Project: Edmonds' Michael Reagan Completes Portrait of Californian

Editor's note: Edmonds artist Michael Reagan, whose Fallen Heroes Project honors American military members who had died, recently completed a portrait of a solider from Beaumont, CA. Here is a story about the painting from the Banning-Beaumont Patch.

A Beaumont native who was killed in action in Afghanistan is now remembered in a portrait by a nationally known artist on display at Jack's Fine Art & Framing on East Sixth Street.

was born at San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital and grew up in Beaumont, his father said.

Dahl was 23 when fatally injured in October 2009. His tank was struck by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's Kandahar province on the Pakistan border, according to the Department of Defense.

Artist Michael Reagan in Edmonds, a former Marine who served in Vietnam, made the portrait for the Dahl family as part of his "Fallen Heroes Project."

"Our mission is to honor the American fallen heroes for their ultimate sacrifice during the war against terrorism," the nonprofit Michael G. Reagan Portrait Foundation states on its Web site. "The foundation will provide the resources to produce and distribute to each family a hand-drawn portrait of their fallen hero, created by artist Michael G. Reagan, free of charge. Each portrait is intended to show our love and respect for these heroes and their families."

Reagan has created more than 2,700 portraits of combat casualties.

framed Dahl's portrait for free, Michael Dahl Sr. said. The portrait is on display at the shop at 226 E. Sixth St.

"I'm very grateful to them," Dahl's father said. "I kept it in storage for a long time because I wanted it to be preserved. They did an incredible job on this."

Jilana Dunaway, manager of Jack's, said the portrait was framed with acid-free materials, including the finished wood frame, hand-wrapped liner and museum-quality glass with ultraviolet light protection.