Veterans get honored by photo project

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — For some military veterans, it’s hard to smile for the camera. They’ve been through so much.

But when Honor Portraits, a Delray Beach, Fla.-based nonprofit, offers to take their picture, they are allowed to put on whatever face they like. During a recent pre-veterans Day portrait session at a retirement community in Lantana, some allowed their eyes to get teary; others displayed small grins of nostalgia and pride. Still others gazed inward, looking back on the formative experiences of war and how they made it through.

All said they were grateful to be recognized, having endured an assortment of reactions from family and society upon their return and in the years that followed.

Honor Portraits has shot photographs of more than 500 South Florida veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan over the past seven years. The group sets up in central locations, such as recreation rooms of apartment complexes or nursing homes.

Volunteers interview the participants about their basic training, locations during service, duties, and any medals and ribbons they were awarded. Afterward, the organization delivers an 8-by-10-inch framed portrait to each veteran at no cost, as well as digital copies for family reprints.

The portrait sessions revive memories long buried. Gus Faustini, 80, remembers young men spitting at him when he got off the plane from Vietnam, where he rappelled into the jungle from Army helicopters. His voice shook as he recalled the moment.

“People were not supportive when I got back,” said Faustini, who served in the 101st Airborne.

Flora Zolin of Delray Beach co-created Honor Portraits in 2016 after conferring with a fellow photographer about productive uses of their talents in retirement. Besides finding veterans by reaching out to senior communities, Zolin said she approaches men and women who are wearing uniforms or some other indication of their service, such as a U.S. Army cap.

“I’m not shy,” she said. “I’ll chase after someone in a parking lot if I see them wearing a hat.”

Kerry Kachejian, a West Point graduate who served in Iraq, arrived for his portrait session wearing three medals he was awarded during his service: Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and Meritorious Service.

He said he was deeply moved by Honor Portraits emphasizing the dignity and valor of retired soldiers.

“They are getting treated like national treasures, and they are,” he said.