Dear Our Amazing Fans & Supporters:

Forgive my lack of communication lately, I have been doing my best to avoid the "sickness" that has laid waste to my family of four, however, my defenses were breeched Sunday morning and the all-out attack began last night. I am sorry to report that my body has been over run and the "sickness" has prevailed. Never to let the flu keep me away, I am at your service and will continue to "fight the good fight", snot, cough and fever be damned!

I would like to take this update to introduce you to our team behind the scenes here at the Graffiti of War Project. Although we are a small organization, our partners are giants among their peers. In addition to those listed below, we have a small army of "Super Fans" and supporters that assist the project in a variety of ways and we are grateful beyond words for their selfless service to this project and the American Warfighter. Your work and support has not gone unnoticed! 

Jason "SSG D." Deckman:  Jason has been with this project and organization before it was an "organization". SSG D. joined our team when it was only Doc, Mel and a dream. He was the mind behind our website and original Facebook page and continues to aid in our web development and social media presence. SSG D and Doc deployed to Ar Ramadi, Iraq together during OIF 05-07, one of the worst places on Earth in 2006. He has an exceptional military service record and continues to serve this great Nation and all of us as a member of the Army Reserve Corps.

Dear Fans & Supporters:

Today was D-Day, or Decision-Day, however, this decision has turned out to be a bit more difficult than we had anticipated.  After narrowing the list down from the dozens of emails of interest to our Top Seven, we hit a wall.

The jury is still out on who we are choosing for the "Summer-In-Iraq" expedition, but we have narrowed it down to just two.  Below are the two we are choosing between and their qualifications.  We apologize for the delay in our decision, however, we want to ensure we are wise about whom we bring on board, especially now since we are offering a 2% stake in the Graffiti of War Project to the person we choose.

Ken Martin:  Currently the CEO of USA Cheerleaders.  Ken has extensive experience in photography as well as an enormous network of fans/supporters that can only help our cause.  Ken has been working with numerous other "Troop Support" Organizations and brings additional depth to this project.

1SG (ret.) Bruce Reges:  1SG is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Diyala Province from 2007 to 2008.  In addition to his exemplary military record, 1SG was attached to the State Department as an education expert as he was an adjunct Professor at Ferris State College.  1SG has a background in art as well as knowledge of the theater of operations. 

This...is the "Wall" we hit.  We are working on the decision and hope to have made a final decision as to whom we will be offering this opportunity to by tomorrow everning, no later than 10 pm EST.  We are also working on additional opportunities that might save us from making this decision, we are determining whether we might be able to take them both.  This is still in the early stages of development but could be a real answer to this conundrum.  We will keep you all posted. 

In the meantime, please feel free to send us your questions, comments and suggestions and any ideas you may have for the project and our upcoming expedition to Kuwait & Afghanistan.  We also only have a few days left in our campaign to raise the needed funds and are short of less than $2,000.  Please let your friends, family, co-workers, everybody and anybody know about our project, foundation and our upcoming excursion to Southwest Asia.  If we do choose to take them both, we will have additional funding to secure and we hope to count on our fans and supporters to join us in finding a way.  Thank you all for what you have done, continue to do and all the support you offer us.  Our gratitude is beyond words.

Always Forward,

Jaeson "Doc" Parsons

 To Our Generous Fans and Supporters:

 Today, as it is already past midnight EST, is our final day to offer the internship opportunity. We have received quite a list of interested fans and many of them are more than qualified to be considered for this opportunity. This has made our decision one of great difficulty and continues to keep the judges up at night, but we staff members don't get much sleep anyway.

We have narrowed the running down to theTop 7 and I am going to list them here, on this update/blog posting. This still could change; we are still accepting interested entries until 7 pm EST. At which time, we will stop the flood of entries and begin our final deliberations. So, to be clear, we are listing our Top 7 as of March 23rd. However, we are still accepting new entries and thus a new entry could change the course of the list and we could very well have a late and surprising finish, so stay tuned and spread the word to anyone you feel is crazy errr...I mean interested enough to apply. (Just a JOKE, please no hate mail, I was merely kidding, we, the staff at the Graffiti of War, don't believe that our intern candidates are crazy at all, otherwise we would be crazy too, and that is just plain crazy!)

Here is the Top SE7EN Candidates as of March 23rd 2011 (no particular order all candidates listed have an equal chance of winning)

1.) Joe McLaughlin: A Chicago native and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Joe has been an early and staunch supporter of the Graffiti of War Project & Foundation. His military service record is impeccable and is a deciding factor in placing him in the top 7.

2.) 1SG (Ret.) Bruce L. Reges: A retired 1SG and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom serving in the Diyala Province during the surge. He was also attached to the State Department as an Education expert and assisted in humanitarian efforts for Iraqi children. His exceptional military service and background as an Art Professor at Ferris State College is a deciding factor in placing him in the top 7.

3.) Ken Martin: CEO and Founder of USA Cheerleaders, Ken has extensive photography experience and brings additional networking and project ideas to include a joint calendar effort while in country. His photography and networking potential is a deciding factor in placing him in the top 7.

4.) Andrea C. Sandoval: Former Sergeant First Class and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom awarded the Bronze Star. She owns her own photo and design business (Sandoval/Hansen Photo & Design) and has extensive photography experience including combat photography. Her exceptional military record and photography experience is a deciding factor in placing her in the top 7.

5.) DeOndre J. Bonds: Veteran and former combat medic he is currently serving our nation as a ROTC candidate for the Georgia National Guard and attends school full time. His background as a combat medic and military service is a deciding factor in placing him in the top 7.

6.) Inge Bakker: Civilian and a native of Amsterdam, Netherlands, she is currently an expert in administrative and coordination operations. In addition she is very active in US Troops Support Organizations such as "Tell Them Thanks". Her networking potential and coordination and administrative skills are a deciding factor in placing her in the top 7.

7.) Stephen Quarles: Currently a Staff Sergeant in the US Army. He is a veteran of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He has an exceptional military record and has extensive combat experience. His exemplary military qualifications are a deciding factor in placing him in the top 7.

Well, that is our list, and what a list it is. We are honored to have such amazing and exceptional candidates for our choosing. We would like to thank all of those who applied and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors; however, we had to make cuts to get to this point. That being said, this decision will be made very carefully, taking into account a wide range of abilities, skills and overall benefits that each candidate brings to the table. In addition, although this slot was advertised as an "unpaid" internship opportunity, we will be offering a 2% stake in the project to the winner of this campaign. Now, this might be 2% of $1,000 or if the book does really, really well, then it could be 2% of $1 million. It all depends of the success of this project. Take it as it stands, we have no idea what the final outcome of the book will be and we will be donating a large portion of the proceeds which the 2% will come out after we make the donation, warfighter's first, then the staff gets paid if and only if there is any left.

As I stated before, we will be continuing to offer this opportunity to new candidates until 7 pm EST. At which we will close the opportunity and then begin our deliberations. We will make our final decision at 9 pm EST. Thank you all for your willingness to support this project, to assist in our need for an intern/partner and we wish you all good luck for, well, for today!

Always Forward!

Jaeson "Doc" Parsons
Director, Project Operations
The Graffiti of War Project
www.GraffitiofWar.com
304.841.8203

Below is our newest video, created by the Graffiti of War Project staff.  This video is a bit shorter in length than the previous one and features "Survivor Guilt" by Rise Against from their new album, End Game.  We hope you like the video and we encourage you to voice your opinions on our work.  Feel free to post your comments, questions and ideas about the video as well as our project. 

Please share this video with your friends, family, everyone and anyone.  We have provided the link to the video on YouTube as well as the HTML code to embed this video on your website and Facebook page.  The more people we can get to join us in spreading the word, the better this project will be. 

YouTube Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzvOJkrJPL8

HTML Code For Video Embed: (Copy and Paste)
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qzvOJkrJPL8?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qzvOJkrJPL8?hl=en&fs=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Always Forward!

Jaeson "Doc" Parsons

Dear Faithful Supporters,

I normally don't blog solely about our needs in terms of funds, however, time is running out and we are far from meeting the funding needs of this project.  To update those of you who might have been away for a bit or for the benefit of our newest fans, I will briefly explain the state of affairs.

As you know, we are traveling to Kuwait and Iraq this summer after attending the GI Film Festival in Washington D.C. in early May.  We will be leaving in the last few days of May and we are not planning on returning until late July or early August at the latest.  Since we will be embedding with US troops our costs are minimal when you consider what we are accomplishing which is basically a tour of the bases of Kuwait and Iraq, courtesy of CIPC.  Most media organizations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve this goal; we are doing it on merely $6,000 to $7,000.  This includes air travel, equipment costs, insurance premiums for 60 days, miscellaneous costs associated with the travel to include hotels while we are still in the states preparing for travel, meals not included during our embed process, other incidental costs that may arise while we are conducting our missions.  The lion share of the costs comes in the form of our airfare.  Four one-way tickets to Kuwait City, Kuwait are anything but cheap.  The reason they have to be one-way is due to our need for date flexibility on our return flight, in case we are delayed in our departure out of country.  We also cannot opt for discount fares due to that same required flexibility. 

We are exploring options to include contacting airlines such as United, American and Emirates to discuss whether they would like to provide these tickets at no-cost for publicity and to help a good cause.  As much as I would like to rely on this, it is irresponsible for me to not have contingency plans and several of them at that.  If any of our fans/supporters believe they may be able to help in our negotiations with these airlines, or other airline companies, please let us know, we are all ears. 

As far as equipment is concerned, there are certain requirements that we must comply to, such as body armor, helmets, etc.  We are working on borrowing some of these items from our personal contacts and we also would offer this as a solution that our fans might be able to help with.  WVU, my university, has offered the use of their camera for our trip and we are considering this offer, if the terms are right and we are held harmless to any and all damage that may arise for such an expedition.  If they agree to the terms, this will slash our funding needs by at least 10%.  However, we must prepare contingency plans in the event it falls through. 

Insurance costs are something we cannot get around and basically just have to pay it.  On average, we are looking at $500 for 60 days of coverage, which is multiplied by two for our intern/travel partner.  We also will be providing all the equipment and required safety attire for our intern/travel partner, which also raises the costs of travel. 

So, as you can see, we are not by any means being paid for one day of travel to Kuwait and Iraq.  The entire budget of $7,000 will be devoted to what I detailed above and more.  None of which involves payment to myself, our partners, intern/travel partner or staff.  We just want to ensure this is made clear and that we will be submitting our expenses upon our return for our supporters to view, to remain transparent in our activities. 

We have 19 days left on the Kickstarter campaign, and we have raised $2,187 in total funds.  We also have raised almost $700 through our raffle campaign taking place in the Boston area.  In addition to all of that, we have $620 in the foundation bank account, with $500 of that being a single donation by one of our dedicated supporters, Greg Love.  It is through individuals such as Justin Pierce and RangerBoy ADC who both increased their original pledges as well as Greg and DJ Slipstream who have donated a large amount, to those such as Kitty Owens who pledged $5, we appreciate any amount, large or small, because it shows us that we are not the only ones who believe in this project and it encourages us to continue to struggle forward and never give up.  We are asking you, I am asking you personally, to help us raise the funds we need to complete this trip.  I assure you I will NOT give up and if it takes me covering the costs and coughing up $4,000, I will.  I hope I won't have to, I believe we have the support we need to achieve this goal.  I believe that our fans and supporters will dig deep and show their support either by helping to spread the word of our needs, or by giving from their heart, whether it is $2 or $200, we appreciate any support, any amount or any type you, our generous fans, are willing to provide. 

We are asking for your help, your support in funding this project.  We need your pledges to ensure the success of this project.  Travis, SSG D., Mel and I can only do so much, we are only capable of so much, and we need your help in covering down on what is needed to complete this culturally significant project.  Please, there is only so much time left, 19 days, we need your help, your willingness to pledge that support, whether in monetary terms or through exposure, we need, desperately need your help.  Will you join us?  Will you stand with us and pledge with us? 


The Graffiti of War Project Kickstarter Fundraising Campaign:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/graffitiofwar/the-graffiti-of-war-project/



Always Forward!

Jaeson "Doc" Parsons

 We have had some very exciting developments regarding our upcoming trip to Kuwait & Iraq this May.  We will do our best to briefly explain what they are and what it all means for the Project.

On Friday of last week, we had a conference call with Maxim Magazine regarding their interest in our project and the possibility of posting our content in the website and upcoming "Military" tab.  It has been officially decided that we will be provided content, exclusively to them.  This content includes our blog detailing the entire trip from Day 0 to the day we return.  In addition, we will be updating our blog daily with photos of the content we collect, interviews with service members currently deployed, as well as a unique inside look into the life of our brave warfighters.  We will be updating on Twitter while we are out in the field to give our followers a taste of what's to come in the blog as well as the final book.  We are very excited as to the potential exposure for the project and popularity of the book.  We are looking to Maxim to help us reach our goal of 10,000 fans on Facebook in 15 days.  Shoot For The Stars & Hit The Moon!  I know we can do it, but we must pull together!

Today we gave a presentation to the administration of West Virginia University (Go Mountaineers!) all about the project, foundation and our goals and intentions for both.  Except for minor technology issues at the beginning (time to get a new laptop) it went off without a hitch.  WVU is very excited about the project and are going to be focused on getting this project some additional exposure.  After Spring Break (which is next week) they will be posting on their Facebook and Twitter page, creating a press release to their state-wide contacts, as well as an article in their Alumni Magazine.  We hope to garner some hometown support from them and continue to review areas in which we can increase our exposure.

Going forward, we are pleased to see our Kickstarter Campaign continues to grow.  We have come a long way, but still have some ways to go.  That being said, we remain confident in our fans and supporters as well as the all-volunteer staff that is working their A$$ES off!  Speaking of which, Travis and Jeff worked all weekend at the Springfield Gun Show and managed to squeeze out an additional $600 from their efforts.  They continue to work day and night, spreading the scope of our Raffle currently in full-swing on the Northeast Coast.  If any of our current supporters would like to toss their hat into the ring and enter for your chance to win a 64 gig iPad, feel free to contact Travis, Jeff or Doc for details on how you can participate, terms and conditions and the date and location of the winner announcement.  Even if you don't want to take your chances with that, we would appreciate any words of encouragement you can send Travis and Jeff.  They have a very difficult and thankless job, marketing and fundraising, show your thanks of their efforts and give them some words of support.  I have listed their emails below or you can simply click their names above.

We hope to begin posting on Maxim.com by the end of the month or early April and certainly will update our supporters on when the exact date will be.  We still have more than 2 weeks left on our Kickstarter Campaign as well as the raffle, we are about $4,000 short of the target rate of $7,000 so we need your help now more than ever!  If you can't give, and we completely understand money is scarce, we could really use your help in passing our fundraising page on to those who have a bit of extra scratch and want to help a good cause.  Feel free to share our information with anyone and everyone, we are all happy to discuss this project with anyone, it is our passion.

We appreciate your patience as we continue to grow and fill in the holes of support.  Our website will be undergoing some real changes and we hope to have that complete by the end of the month.  Please let us know if you would like to help out, we are certain to find you a place in our organization, there is much to do and little time to do it in.  Thank you to all of our generous donors, we appreciate your willingness to put your money where our mouth is!  As always, feel free to post comments, questions, concerns or ideas and we will do our best to accommodate requests as quickly as we can.  I will be posting again in a couple of days as we get closer to our goal of 10,000 fans and $5,000 on Kickstarter.  I know we can do it, and you can help! 

BTW:  We will be posting the Power Point Presentation tomorrow for those who would like to pass that around to help out the cause.  Feel free to send us your critiques on the PowerPoint, it will only better the project. 

Travis: cam@graffitiofwar.com
Jeff: huskiesno12@aol.com
Doc: doc@graffitiofwar.com  

Always Forward!


Jaeson “Doc” Parsons
304.841.8203