The Lionhearted: Art Espinoza

TOGETHER, WE SAVE LIVES® - To some, these may be mere words, remnants of a time when companies embraced their history and delivered on their promises. At The Safariland Group we live those values every day. We live them when we empower over two thousand people to design, engineer, research and deliver our protective equipment products to those that protect us. We live them as we continuously seek new innovations to add to the premier group of Safariland brands that have been protecting law enforcement, military and security professionals for over half a century. We live them when we help save lives. From the front lines to back home, our veterans have made tremendous sacrifices for their families, their communities and our country. But the brave and determined have become increasingly lost and forgotten. The ravages of PTSD, body mutilation due to IEDs, and nightmares resounding with echoes of the battlefield are often the private hells of our returned heroes and warriors. The home that once emboldened our veterans during their most harrowing war time experiences has too often ignored or neglected them upon their return.
Every day, an average of 22 veterans take their own life, yet this disquieting statistic is rarely noted by the media or our elected leaders. The Lionhearted project visits 22 veterans from the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy while veteran artist, Shawn Ganther expresses their untold story through art.
A 24-minute short film, and each individual art piece featuring a veteran’s combat story provides a digital channel for all Americans to celebrate these heroes. This storytelling spotlights each warriors’ experiences of courage, combat and comradery while in Afghanistan, Iraq and other active war zones. The video features interviews conducted veteran-to-veteran, as well as footage of both combat and their present-day home and work life.
These individual art pieces depicting the personal war-time experiences of our surviving warriors will be created in the colors, Red, White and Blue. The final artwork creates a 6-foot long, 350-pound mosaic of the American flag. This tribute to veterans’ stories will live forever enshrined at the National Veterans Art Museum so that their loyal self-sacrifice may become, and remain, a source of our national pride. See all the artwork at www.lionheartedfilm.com or visit safariland.com

[@TheBarbieOG]

Miss you brother. I’m glad I met you . Much love from Guam.

[@anonsoulofficial]

HERO 🦁🖤📢👽

[@suzysmith3725]

Art, You will be missed by many. Ride hard in Valhalla! Skäl.
You will always love in our memories and hearts.
We love you!
Tia Suzy

[@norii312]

Rest In Peace to such a beautiful man. No one knew exactly what you were going through . You deserve so much respect for everything you have done .
Always in our hearts 🙏🏽✨

[@MrRymanb]

Thank you Safariland for these LIonhearted Videos. Hearing these stories lets me, as a Marine know what part of me already knew. That I'm not alone, that I'm not the only one who's sat there and thought hard about taking his own life cause he just could never adjust to civilian life. As I currently work on bettering myself, hearing the stories of these men who have already taken the steps to better their own and step away from that darkness gives hope where there was once none.
Please post more.
To those watching. Please share these.
Remember to buddy check each other. Don't become a statistic.

[@eatingelizabethsfrizbee]

Your not alone my brother what we experienced will never go away from our memories but as a older Marine I can tell you this it will be what you want it to be I know the taste of CLP and its horrible to know that as I type this a big part of me tells me to shut up and keep it to myself but a bigger part says no you may help someone who might not make it after tasting death talk to those who need you it will save some most of all it might save you. Semper Fi brother.

[@vieuxacadian9455]

Thank You Sir , well said . I was USAF 1986-1992 . thanks again .

[@eatingelizabethsfrizbee]

Mine was in 1992 and I still have not gotten over it I in my humble opinion think that we those that have seen the tiger smile are not meant to get over it. It is a badge one of that comes with a curse one that you keep to yourself because the ones who would understand are few the others are dead. Semper Fi my brother.

[@eddiebarajas8774]

I love you brother. Miss you too

[@DrLesleyStevens]

So glad you found your way. Bless you.

[@thomasjenkins3547]

Thank you for this.

[@alienresearchlab]

Semper Fi Art!

[@Tooshbaba]

HOORAH!

[@observantone1783]

Respect same shoes as you brother

[@sikhshooter3033]

Fix your titling. It's Espinoza, not Espionza.

[@chrisp2639]

Title* - if you want to get bent out of shape 'titling' is incorrect grammar.