American Health Care Association
National Nursing Home Week
May 13-19, 2007
Aging in America Project
Drawings and Text by Jim Branscum
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are now" -- Theodore Roosevelt
The Aging in America project is a series of representational pencil drawings depicting the humanity and dignity of America’s aging citizens. Focusing on a few, representing all, my work projects a positive image of older Americans with a drawing series that transcends the image of any individual model. The goal of the series is to help our living heritage receive the attention, respect and care they so rightfully deserve by heightening public and Legislative awareness to their past contributions and their present needs & concerns.
The subjects of the Aging in America series are heroes, they are pioneers; some are average Americans and others are historically significant individuals. All have given a lifetime of toil and sacrifice to "shoulder the responsibilities of citizenship." The subjects of this series represent the triumphs, hopes and concerns of all older Americans.
Lilly Schiltz: 1996-
Peoria, Arizona
Though she is protective of the privacy of herself and others, Lilly Schiltz agreed to tell me her life’s story. Lilly was born in Sweden and immigrated to America at the age of 14, in 1910. She worked as a maid to the owners of an automobile manufacturing company. When she met the chauffeur for the same family, they fell in love and married. He later became the chauffeur for the French Ambassador to Mexico. With A shared faith in God, hard work and wise investments, Lilly and her husband enjoyed all the dreams of immigrants to America.
Lilly feels it was prayer that guided her to become a resident of Casa Del Rio, a private apartment within the Plaza Del Rio multi-level care complex in Peoria, Arizona. Casa Del Rio provides a comfortable, independent living environment. It is owned by Dr. Harold Gries and Sharon Harper who have transformed a riverside desert into an "oasis of care" covering all the needs of their many residents. Supporting the concept of a drawing series focusing on the humanity, dignity and contributions of older Americans and seeing my dream when it was only sketched in words, they were the second original sponsor of the Aging in America- Our Heritage of Wisdom series. I am grateful for their early support. I also have them to thank for introducing me to Lilly Schiltz.
Though Lilly is 96 years old, she still spends her days in service to those whose health restricts their activities. She bakes cookies and visits her neighbors who consider her an "Angel of Mercy." A very private individual, Lilly agreed to pose for me for one reason. "If it will help somebody else, then I’ll do it," she said of my request to use her as a model. Her life had no more, no fewer challenges, joys or sorrows than anyone else’s. Lilly loved, was loved and and enjoyed her life with her first true love, Emil.
The image framed behind her is Lilly at the age of 18-- seventy-eight years before the day she posed for me. The features of the young girl are not lost in the image of Lilly at 96. The eyes have grown wiser but no less beautiful. She continues to exemplify grace and dignity in her bearing as she posed for me among a collection of fine art paintings and souvenirs that accented her apartment. The cherished items reminders of events long past. She shared her cherished objects with me, telling about some of the most important moments-- paintings of her home in Sweden and a hand carved table or a lamp with special meaning. The value of the artifacts is not the important issue; it is the memories that have true value to her. I feel it has been a privilege to work with Lilly Schiltz. She has shared a few hours of her time, some of her home-made apple strudel and her life with me. I leave, grateful for the opportunity she has given me by modeling for me. I am impressed by her kindness and willingness to help others. The most often stated _expression of viewers of Lilly’s drawing is, "She looks regal." If royalty were bestowed on individuals by the contents of their hearts and the sum of their actions, Lilly would be a queen.
Charlie Hurd: 1892
Mexia, Texas
Charles Hurd waited in his room at The Manor, a Marwitz Bro. nursing facility in Mexia (Ma-hey-ya), Texas. He was waiting for a visit with an artist seeking models for a series on older Americans. He wore a suit that befit the occasion. On his lapel was his Good Conduct Medal received for service before and during the first World War. His handshake instantly told me why he has spent a lifetime making friends of strangers; grasp- ing, with both hands covering my own, his grip was warm and firm. His smile and the sound of his voice belied his age. After introductions were made and brief explanations of the drawing project were given, "Charlie," as he preferred to be addressed, became the ninth model for the Aging in America series.
In addition to to being a handsome man at 101 years old, Charlie is a historical figure in Mexia. His father was a janitor at the school Charlie and his sisters attended. He was taught the values of hard work, honesty and charity. They were lessons well learned which earned him respect among the citizens the oil rich town. At 18 years of age, he was given his first job as the chauffeur for the town's most prominent banker, Mr. Murphy. Charlie was the first man in Mexia to drive an automobile. He was given the honor and responsibility of driving Texas Governor Neff when the Governor visited Mexia. Charlie's proudest accomplishments, however, were brought about by his talents in the kitchen and a secret recipe for Bar-B-Q sauce that he promised never to reveal-- a promise he has kept to this day.
The recipe gave Charlie contact with the younger generation of the times. Mexia was a bustling city of 50,000 oil-men, rough-necks, farmers, bankers and their families. "The young people had nowhere to go, nothing to do," Charlie remembers out loud, "so I opened a small Bar-B-Q restaurant named The White Swan." It catered to the youth of Mexia giving them a place where they were always welcomed by the handshake and smile that had touched my heart some fifty years later. "That sauce," he told me with a laugh from deep inside his chest, "was so good it made you want to chew your fingers when you got it on them." The White Swan remains a monument of Charles Hurd's contribution to the community. Today it houses the Mexia offices of the NAACP.
His eyesight has been dimmed by time, but the changes and sights they have seen make a visit with Charles Hurd entertaining and memorable. He witnessed the birth of manned flight, the invention of the automobile, and watched man first step onto the surface of the moon. He also witnessed the anguish of battle. Prior to World War I, his Army unit skirmished with Pancho Villa in southern Arizona. He wears his medal with pride of service to his country, carries his head high and keeps his heart open for artists and other strangers who stop to share a moment of his time.
When I arrived at The Manor, I was impressed by the friendliness of the staff and the overall appearance of the facility. Charles had been a resident for the past eight years. His high opinion of his life at the Manor is a testament to the high standards of care he has received. The staff and residents alike share a mutual respect for one another and all strive to give The Manor a true feeling of home.
Essie Smith: 1911-
Marshall, Texas
My search for subjects has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of creating the Aging in America series. I often visit with many subjects before selecting a model. Other times, I know when I meet a resident that I have found a model for the series. Essie Smith was one of these individuals. Her strong voice was tempered by a warm smile and an eagerness to visit with me.
Essie spent her life in the East Texas town of Marshall. "I had four children and raised them in a good Christian home," she states to begin her life's story. She says she survived the hardships of living through the depression and the hardships that life brings to all and reached the age of 82 because of prayer. Using an euphemism of one in a health care setting, Essie states with confidence and a punctuating nod, "Prayer, you know, is "help chords" to call God." She tells me that her needs are few in life, "A clean environment, mind and body, and good food is all I ever needed and God provides them all to me. I thank him everyday." She credits God with providing the care she receives at the Marshall Manor Nursing Home.
A stroke left her partially paralyzed on the left side which limits her movements, yet she still finds joy in the simpler things in life. She partakes in the many activities provided to the residents by the facility. When there is a field trip, she reminds the activities director, Alana Butler, "Don't forget me, I want to see God's creations." Essie also takes advantage of the many opportunities for the residents to practice their faith with ministers and church groups of various faiths who are encouraged to hold religious services at the facility. "Faith," Alana states, "is a major part of the residents' lives."
Essie talks freely about her feelings toward the staff at Marshall Manor focusing on Alana Butler. The comments were so favorable that I asked Alana to make some time available to discuss her work with elder residents. Alana agreed and explained her approach to the residents with stimulating events to brighten their daily lives.
"One of my most important tasks is to educate people about the residents need to maintain contact with the community, especially young people." Residents without families are a priority in Alana's efforts. She instituted an "Adopt a Grandparent" program to bring residents and young people together in one-to-one visits. "The young people sometimes have to learn not to be afraid of older people. Once they get passed their fear, relationships begin to grow and the youths learn about the historical contributions of the residents. They also begin to realize the residents, although old, are people with feelings and needs that deserve consideration" Alana also oversees many other activities to provide mental and physical stimulation to the residents. She summed up her work with the elderly by saying that her main priority is to teach the residents that their chronological age is not as important as the psychological age that they feel. "It's not how old you are, but how old you feel," Alana stated to conclude our visit.
Essie Smith's relationship with Alana emphasizes that each worker in a nursing home is important to the overall comfort and quality of life of the home's residents. I agree with Essie's assessment that those who provide the care to our aging citizens like Alana Butler are "jewels in the crown of life." "This," Essie added, "is all I ever wanted to be as I lived my life-- a jewel in the crown of life God gave to me."
I find myself wishing I had known my models as children, as teenagers, at fifty years of age... I draw the product of their lives and hope to capture the spirit of the person inside the remnants of their youth.
Charles W. Lindberg: 1920-
Richfield, Minnesota
As I exhibit the original drawings in "Work in Progress" exhibitions throughout the country, I have met many individuals of all ages who do not know there were two flag raisings on Iwo Jima. Prior to my research for this drawing, I did not know of the two flag raisings. If I did know there were two events, I did not put much significance in the second, thinking those who placed the first flag were those history would remember and were the heroes. Like many Americans, my knowledge of the battle of Iwo Jima and the flag raising was limited to general knowledge absorbed from history classes, documentaries and movies. As a young boy, I had seen the movie, Sands of Iwo Jima, with John Wayne, more times than I can now remember as my 50th birthday nears. I learned the movie was nothing like the reality. The subject of this drawing, Charles W. Lindberg (no relation to the aviator), was not a "Hollywood Marine" as he characterized the "posturing for posterity" by some in the detail for the Marine photographer sent to record the event.
The papers headlined a story of blazing guns and the air thick with bullets, shells and human anguish as the forty man platoon ascended the hill to place a symbol of success in the battle at the summit of Mt. Suribachi. The newspapers reported fiction, not fact. There was no battle during the platoon's first ascent of Mt. Suribachi. Platoon Leader, Lt. Schier stated they would have been wiped out if the Japanese had attacked as they climbed the rocky slopes. The fighting began soon after they raised the flag. While the flag was an inspiration for the American troops, it infuriated the Japanese soldiers. "That's when all hell broke loose," Charles Lindberg recalled.
I was aware of the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by Joe Rosenthal, and I had visited the Marine Corps Monument, closely modeled after the Rosenthal photo, in our nation's Capitol. I knew that the group of five Marines and a Navy Corpsman depicted in Rosenthal's photograph were proclaimed heroes for planting the flag on Mt. Suribachi. Having lived in Arizona most of my adult life, the story of Ira Hayes was very familiar to me. Yet, until I began the research for this drawing, visited with the last surviving member of the first flag raising on Mt. Suribachi and heard hear his first hand account of that historical moment in time, I did not know the full story. There were two flag raisings; while the second flag raising became the "official" event and the second flag raisers were widely known and given hero status; the first flag raisers continued the Battle of Iwo Jima and, those who survived Iwo Jima, the Pacific. Since that time these "unsung heroes" have been either officially ignored or delegated to a footnote in history.
Charles W. Lindberg is the last surviving member of the U.S. Marine detail that placed the first American flag on Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima. At a time when "uncommon valor was a common virtue," 24 year old Charles W. Lindberg and thirty-nine other U.S. Marines in his platoon worked their way up the steep volcanic slopes of Mt. Suribachi. Charles and five other Marines planted the first American Flag at its summit at 10:35 am, February 23, 1945.
The struggle up the steep mountain slopes and the first placing of the flag was captured by Lou Lowery, a Marine photographer for Leatherneck Magazine. The images in the background of his drawing were taken from official photographs by Lowery given to me by Charles Lindberg on our first visit. To the viewers left, Charles stands with his flame-thrower. The next background grouping shows Charles (on right) tying the flag to a water-pipe which was used as the staff to hold the flag above the mountain top for all Marines to see. It was the first sign that Mt. Suribachi had been captured. Charles chuckled as he noted, "The pipe had convenient bullet hole just where it was needed. The grouping to the right, is the only photo taken of the first flag raising. The six Marines officially listed as the first flag raisers on Mt. Suribachi are as Follows: Lt. Harold Schrier; Plt. Sgt. Ernest Ivy Thomas; Sgt. Henry O. Hanson; Cpl. Charles W. Lindberg; Pfc. Jim Michaels (with Carbine in foreground) & Pfc. Louis Charlo (Note: there is some dispute as to whether Pfc. Louis Charlo is the sixth man in Lou Lowery's photo of the first flag raising. The sixth Marine's image is only partially visible.)
Seeing the first flag being raised through binoculars from a boat heading toward the shell pocked beach, Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal, stated to his escort, Marine General, Holland Smith, "The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years." For the Marines, our country and all Americans, Charles W. Lindberg's participation in a significant moment in history is in no way in dispute. Of the forty man Marine platoon the made the climb up Mt. Suribachi to raise the first American Flag on captured Japanese territory, thirty-six were killed or wounded in subsequent fighting on the island of Iwo Jima. For his actions on Mt. Suribachi, Marine Cpl. Charles W. Lindberg was awarded the Silver Star.
The manner in which Charles W. Lindberg came to be a model for the Aging in America drawing series is a story worthy of telling in this account of his actions on Mt. Suribachi. I had been sent information of a nursing home resident who claimed to be the last surviving member of the first Iwo Jima flag raisers. Through the administrator of the facility where he lived, the gentleman had agreed in advance to pose for a portrait to be included in my series. One of the project's sponsors, hearing the news of this historical figure to be included in the series, offered to sponsor the costs for the trip to visit the man. Prior to making the trip of many thousands of miles, I began preliminary research so I would have some basic knowledge of this heroic event before arriving for the interview and photo session.
I could not find any mention of the man who asserted his participation in the first flag raising event in any history books covering the battle. It is possible that he was on Mt. Suribachi, since there are disputes concerning the identity of some Marines in various photographs by Lowery before and after the event; however, this gentleman was not listed as one of the six Marines who raised the first flag in any account I could find. I finally contacted the U.S. Marine Corps Museum in San Diego, California and talked to the museum curator. He informed me that there was only one surviving member of either the first or second group of flag raisers and that the only survivor's name was Charles W. Lindberg. The curator's next statement made the hairs on my arm stand up and a chill travel down my spine when he said, "Mr. Lindberg is on the base today to speak to a graduating group of new Marines."
The curator put me in touch with Charles Lindberg's driver who was assigned to escort him while he was on the base. I gave a brief description of my project to his driver and my desire to include a portrait of this Marine in my series. She, a female Marine Sergeant, took the information and promised to forward it to Mr. Lindberg. After his return to his home in Richfield, Minnesota, Charles called and agreed to look at any information on the project I would send and would contact me after he had the time to consider my request. After receiving the materials, Charles agreed to an interview and to pose for the series.
From my research on the battle for the island, I felt I had a fair understanding of the history of the flag raising on Iwo Jima. So I knew in meeting Charles Lindberg, I was going to meet with an important participant in one of our nation's most historic moments. My son, an active duty Marine serving in Okinawa, Japan, told me of the high esteem the United States Marine Corps holds Charles W. Lindberg in recognition of his actions on Mt. Suribachi. Charles met with me at his home in Richfield, to give me an interview and to pose in his backyard for his portrait drawing. The stature of the 24 year old Marine is still seen in the relaxed but ready pose of Charles fifty years later.
The Rosenthal depiction was taken of the second flag raising at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon. I have even heard and read that the second flag raising was a "staged" reenactment of the original event which had occurred four hours earlier. Some accounts report, "It was staged for publicity and to aid in the domestic war effort." Charles and my research dispute these facts. The first flag, was a small flag and there were concerns that the small flag might be taken as a souvenir. Also, being small, the first flag could only be seen, with effort, from the landing zone. There was also concerns that all combatants, including the Japanese soldiers who were still fanatically defending their posts, could not see the smaller flag. While giving American forces heart, it would be demoralizing to the Japanese soldiers. Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Chandler Johnson, ordered a 96 X 56 inch flag found in the stores of a landing craft, LST 779, to be taken up Mt. Suribachi to replace the original flag. Though not particularly important at the time, the large flag had come from Pearl Harbor.
On February 23, 1945, I was still in my mother's womb. While I developed in my place of safety, six U.S. Marines climbed to the top of Mt. Suribachi and placed the first American flag at its summit. Thousands of other American servicemen had already given their lives to reach this point in the invasion of Iwo Jima and many more would be giving their lives before the island was secured. Those who fought and won the battle of the island, those who died and those who survived, made their sacrifices for the future of all Americans, even those yet to be born. The freedoms won fifty years ago for every American citizen alive today was provided by the heroes of Iwo Jima and all the battles of World War II. As the memories of those events fade in the public mind, the debt we collectively owe to this generation of Americans is also being forgotten; however, the debt owed to this generation cannot be diminished by time nor can we default on repayment for their service to America.
To learn the rest of the story of Iwo Jima, I recommend the same book that Charles Lindberg recommended to me, IWO JIMA Monuments, Memories and the American Hero, by Karal Ann Marling and John Wetenhall.
Postscript: Charles honored me and this project by posing for the series. As a result of his generosity, his drawing was seen by President Clinton when I sent materials concerning the exhibition for review prior to the AIA project's 1995 White House Conference on Aging exhibition. I received a call from the White House and was asked to bring Mr. Lindberg to the White House Conference on Aging so the President could recognize his action on Iwo Jima. To the left is the Official White House Photograph of Charles W. Lindberg and President Clinton in a private meeting after the President's public address. Fifty years and two months after climbing Mt. Suribachi to plant the first American Flag on captured Japanese territory, Charles W. Lindberg received his first official recognition from a sitting U.S. President. I am honored to have played a small role in that meeting.
You can view Jim Branscum's website at www.jimbartstudio.com.
Jim Branscum can be contacted at: jlb19747@sbcglobal.net.