JBER’s Fisher House receives piece of art with a purpose

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (KTUU) - Nearly 5,000 drywall screws — carefully painted and intentionally spaced across a canvas — make up an image of an American flag, waving in front of a sky bursting with green and purple streaks of the northern lights.

Editor’s note: The 988 Lifeline provides 24/7 support for people in distress, including suicide prevention and crisis resources in multiple languages. If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, call or text 988 for free, confidential help, any time of day.

It’s a fitting background for artist and retired Chief Petty Officer Joe Pisano’s fourth 3D industrial piece, which is being gifted to the State of Alaska — specifically, the Alaska Fisher House on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

The black frame around the piece, Pisano explained, is purposeful.

“The black frame actually represents kind of the darkness that Alaska, you know, succumbs to,” Pisano said, referencing the high rate of suicide across the state. “The second frame will be in gray, and the subsequent frames after that will be white. We’ll pull in our veterans, out of the dark, and into the light.”

Pisano is using his artwork to shed light on a dark statistic in the active-duty military and veteran communities, and working to raise suicide awareness while advocating for prevention efforts.

He joined the Navy just before the age cutoff and recently retired in December of last year. He still serves in The Navy Reserve.

The flag, known as the Standing Together Flag, was commissioned by the Resurrecting Lives Foundation — a national nonprofit that focuses on suicide prevention efforts among U.S. servicemembers through treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI).

The Veterans Standing Together Across America project started with humble beginnings after Pisano made a flag using around 4,300 screws. He had about 100 veterans sign the frame of the original piece.

“It has now grown to five frames, over 1,200 veteran signatures — from WWI to the Global War on Terrorism — every branch of service, including two MWDs, Military Working Dogs,” Pisano said.

Pisano was approached by Resurrecting Lives founder Dr. Chrisanne Gordon, who wanted to build on his concept and create 50 flags for all 50 states.

The flag being gifted to the Alaska Fisher House is the fourth flag of that project, with flags having already landed in California, Ohio, and Hawaii.

The 3D art installation was presented during an open house event hosted by the Fisher House earlier this week. Fisher House’s house manager Theresa Nedrow said it was an honor to be chosen to host the artwork.

“Remarkable, simply remarkable,” Nedrow said. “It’s just a blessing, and I hope that every veteran that comes through and sees [the flag] realizes how amazing they are for what they’ve done.”

Jessy Lakin, program lead for the Alaska Warrior Partnership — a local nonprofit that connects veterans to needed resources — was invited to be one of the first veterans to sign the frame after sharing his own struggle with PTSD and TBI with the crowd.

“Definitely an honor to be asked to do it, to tell my story - which I hate telling,” Lakin said. He struggled to keep his composure as he talked about some of his darkest days.

“If my story can save one other life, it’s worth me, you know, choking back the memories and going back through the entire process of remembering what had happened and how it’s affected me over my years,” Lakin said. “PTSD never goes away — there’s no cure for it. Our goal is to just find the tools to combat it.”

All veterans in attendance were invited to sign their names on the frame next to Lakin’s. The flag will be kept inside the Fisher House for more veterans to sign.

If you or someone you know is a servicemember struggling with PTSD or a TBI, and you are having thoughts of self-harm or suicide, specialized help for active military members, veterans and their families is available through the 988 Lifeline. Call or text 988 to get started.

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