WASHINGTON, June 1, 2005- Heather McMahan, an artist, lost five friends in the New York 9-11 attacks. To honor those friends, McMahan created "Welcome Home," a sculpture honoring soldiers returning home.

LIVING IN NEW YORK as a single mother of four children after 9-11 was difficult for McMahan so she moved to Austin, Texas. After settling in Texas, she realized that outside of New York, people did not have the connection to the events as she did. She also felt that soldiers serving overseas needed to be recognized for their sacrifices.

She put her artistic talent to work and created a clay sculpture titled "Welcome Home." It was placed, at her expense, in the Austin airport. The haphazard arrangement of the items in the sculpture is intentional, she noted.

"It's sort of presented to appear as if the boots and the helmet and goggles are just thrown off," McMahan said, the idea being that the soldier who abandoned them so hastily had just received word of pending leave and was in a hurry to be welcomed home.

The reward for her hard work is hundreds of supportive e­mails from passers-by who are touched by the piece. She said the words of thoughts and praise come from servicemembers, their loved ones and those who are moved to do so.

One e-mailer was Army Staff Sgt. Zach Wobler, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division. The two began a correspondence that lasted until he was killed in action in Mosul, Iraq, on Feb. 6.

It was to him that McMahan dedicated the sculpture that now sits in the front office of the PFCU Pentagon branch in Austin.

The piece installed at the Pentagon, also called "Welcome Home," is slightly different from the one in Austin, mainly by the added web belt to the helmet, goggles and boots.

It's all about honoring and supporting the nation's servicemembers, McMahan said.

"It's not about war being right or wrong. It's about serving your country," she said. "(Servicemembers) chose to serve their country. We are the country; we need to show some appreciation."

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