With about 296 American World War II veterans dying each day, one photographer is doing his part to capture and document the lives and stories of those who served.
Since summer 2019, Jeffrey Rease, a graphic designer and photographer from Birmingham, Alabama, has taken captivating portraits of dozens of World War II veterans as part of his photo series, "Portraits of Honor."
"Even though I'm not the only one taking these kinds of portraits, I hope people will get to know about these particular men and women that I've photographed and just learn a little more about them, other than just knowing that they're a veteran living in a VA home, but that they have truly amazing, heroic stories," Rease told Insider in 2019.
He started the project to combine his passion for portraiture with his interest in military history. He was inspired by a friend and fellow photographer based in England, who takes similar portraits of British veterans.
Rease said he finds it an honor to capture the essence of those who are part of the dwindling World War II veteran population. His own family has a legacy of military service; his uncle was a World War II veteran who died in service, and his dad was a paratrooper in the Korean War. Rease's son once served in the Marines, and he has a number of other relatives with ties to the armed forces.
But Rease didn't only grow up hearing stories of his own family members' service; he said he spent "hours upon hours" reading books about wars too.
"Those were just stories and now I'm meeting some of these men and women who lived it," Rease said. "When I hear their stories, I'm just blown away by some of those things that they did and went through, and they never got publicity for it. Maybe they never even talked about it much except to their family."
Keep reading for a look at Rease's breathtaking portraits, which capture the essence of a handful of the nation's veterans.