Our neighbor, Joe, served in World War II like many in his generation. He heroically served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. On his ship, LST-47, he traveled from the United States to Nova Scotia, England, Scotland, France, Algeria, Italy, Norfolk, Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, Okinawa and Japan. He and his shipmates supported the D-Day invasion in June 1944, dropping off troops and supplies at Utah and Omaha Beaches, while transporting wounded personnel and over 1,000 German prisoners. All of this before he turned 20 years old!

I originally created a tapestry or Joe in 2018, and the photos included in this gallery show my first attempt. It was good, though I was still developing my color pallette and bead weaving style. I'm happy to say that my most recent tapestry was on public display with three other tapestries in the summer of 2024 in the beautiful Texas city of Coppell.