Families came from 44 states for a chance to see a loved one memorialized, and to meet each other and some of the approximately 200 artists who contributed to the project.

The portraits, each rising from the end of a metal pole, are the same size -- 6 by 8 inches -- but their form varies. "Oils, acrylics, monochromatic charcoal sketches, montages, abstract -- some would not feel out of place in an exhibition of Norman Rockwell paintings; others owe more to Pablo Picasso," NPR's Art Silverman says.

The exhibit is open until Sept. 5, 2005, at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, located at Arlington National Cemetery. A U.S. tour may follow.

No matter our politics or our opinion of the war, we must never forget their sacrifice. Please see this memorial if you have the chance or go here.

Here are a few of the fallen:

First Lt. Brian D. Slavenas

First Lt. Brian D. Slavenas, Illinois Army National Guard, 30, Genoa Ill., killed when his CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by a surface-to-air missile near Fallujah, Nov. 2, 2003.

Credit: Portrait by Y. David Chung

Petty Officer 1st Class Michael J. Pernaselli

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Michael J. Pernaselli, 27, Monroe, N.Y., killed when the small boat his seven-man team boarded exploded near Iraq's Khwr Al Amaya oil terminal in the Persian Gulf, April 24, 2004.

Credit: Portrait by Georgia Deal

Sgt. Roger D. Rowe

Sgt. Roger D. Rowe, Tennessee Army National Guard, 54, Bon Aqua, Tenn., killed by a sniper in Iraq, July 9, 2003.

Credit: Portrait by Virginia Daley

Lt. Col. John Stein

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. John Stein, 39, Bardolph, Ill., killed in an HH-60 Pave Hawk accident in Afghanistan, March 23, 2003.

Credit: Portrait by Patricia Segnan

Capt. Kimberly N. Hampton

Army Capt. Kimberly N. Hampton, 27, Easley, S.C., killed when the OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopter she was piloting was shot down by enemy ground fire in Fallujah, Iraq, on Jan. 2, 2004.

Credit: Portrait by Barbara Liotta

Cpl. Jorge A. Gonzalez

Marine Cpl. Jorge A. Gonzalez, 20, Los Angeles, killed in action near Nasiriya, Iraq, March 23, 2003.

Credit: Portrait by Scott Howard

Spc. Charles E. Odums II