A Plum High School graduate is using her talent as an artist to pay tribute to soldiers from Pennsylvania who have died in the war in Iraq. Mary Vizzini Vollero, 40, a 1982 graduate of Plum High School, has completed a collection of charcoal sketches of about 35 soldiers from Pennsylvania who have died in Iraq. The collection is currently on display in council chambers at the Plum Borough Building on New Texas Road. Vizzini Vollero, an art professor at the DuBois campus of Pennsylvania State University, said she saw photos of the deceased soldiers on an Internet site and “was moved by their images.” “As a parent, I felt for these families,” said Vizzini Vollero, whose son Michael is 19. In addition, some of her students have family members and friends stationed Iraq and “it has affected them.” Rather than merely sketch an exact replica of the photos, Vizzini Vollero, Bellefonte, Centre County, said she went beyond and “drew on top of them.” “(Doing the sketches) was a way for me to get to know them,” she said. “It’s a way of giving back. I feel some sort of responsibility (for the soldiers being in Iraq) as a citizen of the country. I regret that we did (send them to war). It’s sad.” Bill Volzer, commander of the American Legion Post 980 on Saltsburg Road in Plum, who recently viewed the sketches, said he was impressed. “They are so life-like,” said Volzer, 61, of Plum. “It really makes you feel for their families. It makes you wonder what they are feeling.” “It’s a real tribute to the men,” said Volzer, 61. Plum Councilman Steve Taylor who contacted the Vizzini family when he heard about the sketches and arranged for them to be brought to the borough for a public viewing, said he wanted to honor the fallen soldiers. “It’s the least we can do as Americans is honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” Taylor said. Vizzini Vollero, who recently returned from a month in Madrid, Spain, where she taught about nine of her students at the International Institute, said unfortunately she needs to update the collection of sketches because four additional soldiers from Pennsylvania have died in Iraq. Vizzini Vollero said she would be willing to make copies of the sketches for family members of the fallen soldiers. When the war is over, she would give the originals to family members who may be interested. For now, she wants to keep the collection together. “I’d like to see it (the collection) travel,” Vizzini Vollero said. “I am going to look into taking it to the areas where the soldiers lived.”

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