The Missing Part by Brittany Kieler
Veteran: Jamie M.*, US Air Force
Artist Statement: During one point in her service with the US Air Force, Jamie worked twelve-hour night shifts in a warehouse that held many of the parts the mechanics used. She told me there was a lot of turnover in the warehouse- that different people were coming and going throughout her deployment, and it was always difficult to pick up where the last group had left off when it came to organizing all the equipment. She told me about a time when one particularly expensive and very important part went missing, disappearing somewhere amongst the abyss of other airplane parts. When she told me the story, I didn’t ask what part she and her crew had been looking for or whether they found it. I imagined the moment of success, what the soldiers might have envisioned while they were sorting through part after part. With years between her life now and her time in the service, I wonder which Jamie remembers more clearly — the search for the part, the part itself, or the outcome of the search.
*The Sisters
Four prints in this portfolio document the stories of sisters who all served in the military at different times and branches of service. Thus, they will always be sisters in arms as well as sisters in blood. Their father is a veteran as well. As a family unit they have served their country as well as their state. For this, they should be commended.