Portrait of a Soldier exhibit opens

The Portrait of a Soldier memorial exhibit opened Friday in Roselle, part of a statewide tour that has visited more than 40 communities.

It features hand-drawn portraits of more than 180 men and women from Illinois who have died in service of the country since Sept. 11, 2001.

The display continues today at the Roselle Public Library, 40 S. Park St., from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The exhibit will remain open from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Friday's opening was attended by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn and Maria Teresa LaTourney, mother of fallen Roselle soldier Paul LaTourney, a 1997 graduate of Lake Park High School. The 28-year-old Army staff sergeant was killed in March, 2007 when a makeshift bomb exploded near his vehicle while he was on patrol in Baghdad, Iraq.

Portrait of a Solider was started after artist Cameron Schilling of downstate Mattoon drew a portrait of a local soldier killed in Iraq. The following year, while a student at Eastern Illinois University, Schilling expanded the project to include every Illinois service member killed since Sept. 11.