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John Silva, Jr.
Portrait Artist to Medal Of Honor Recipients

I am a retired E-6, and left the USAF, 1 Nov 67. During my life I have painted, but only as a hobby. In August 1989, I quit my work, and decided to take my hobby and turn I into a business. I now have an Art Gallery, at 4707 Gandy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33611. Tel: 813-839-3883. E-Mail: jsilva0894@aol.com
For a few years now I have been painting portraits of the famous "Tuskegee Airmen", and now have 16 of them completed. As far as I know, these are the only pastel portraits of these men that exist. Recently I started painting portraits of Medal of Honor Recipients, and have completed 8 so far. I have 12 more to complete, as I have been commissioned by my hometown, Pueblo, Colorado to paint 4 of Colorado recipients. My plan is to take 20 portraits to this location, as the Congressional Medal of Honor is holding their convention there in September 2000. All my portraits will be on display for at least a week.

This brings us to today. In my research, I learned that the USCG was the only service that had only one Medal of Honor recipient. Learning this, I felt that SM1 Douglas A. Munro must be added to the collection. I learned that there was a CPOA in the area, and contacted QMC Richard Longo to see if there were any good photos of SM1 Munro. One thing led to another, and now I have enough information to complete this portrait. I plan to take the completed portrait to Pueblo, Colorado for the MOH Convention.

This will be the 2nd showing of this portrait, as it is planned the portrait will be viewed for the first time by his next of kin, Mrs. Pat Sheehan, his sister. Mrs. Sheehan will be the recipient of copy #1 of this portrait, with copy #2 to USCG Headquarters, and #3 to the local VFW post in Cle Elum, Washington who are erecting a Veterans Memorial Wall near Munro's gravesite. The Seattle Chapter of the CPOA is erecting a lighted flagpole also near Munro’s gravesite.

In order to assure that the portrait will be completed and copies made available to persons concerned, I need to have copies published. We are reaching out to every USCG station and ship, to reserve their copy of the print by an advance donation of $50.00, which is, by the way, the total price for the print. This deposit will guarantee a print, numbered and signed, plus a copy of SM1 Munro’s MOH citation. We need a minimum of 250 orders to assure success in this venture. On receipt of your personal check, you will be provided with:

1. A receipt for money advanced.
2. Your print number
3. An approximate date you can plan on receiving the print.

Because of QMC Richard Longo’s help, and his action to act as consultant, plus the work he has put in to contacting everyone in the USCG, I plan to dedicate this print in his honor.

For order form, Click HERE.  Print from your browser, fill it in, enclose your check / money order and mail it to the address on the form.

Coast Guard Cutter MUNRO (WHEC-724)

IN MEMORY OF

SIGNALMAN 1ST CLASS

DOUGLAS A. MUNRO

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD WW II

Born Oct. 11, 1919 Vancouver, British Columbia

Died Sept. 27, 1942 Guadalcanal Solomon Islands

He gave his life to save his countrymen

And to preserve our freedom

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