About José Belén

Jose Belen is a United States Army Field Artillery combat veteran turned Artist. Jose served two concurrent combat tours of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom (Operation Iraqi Freedom 1 & 2 with the 1st Armored Division "Old Ironsides",2nd Battalion 3rd Field Artillery Regiment "Gunners". While deployed Jose and his unit suffered the heartbreak of losing 2 soldiers from their very own firing battery on 22 December 2003. One of those soldiers was Jose's roommate and best friend PFC Stuart W. Moore of Livingston, Texas. Also killed was Captain Edward Matthew Saltz who Jose describes as a genuine and proven leader in combat operations. Their loss, especially that of his best friend, left a pain in Jose's heart that he was never truly able to heal from until he created his first art piece on Memorial Day 2020. That Memorial Day morning  José decided that contrary to years before he did not want to be sad and angry all day. He called his faithful best friend who had a table saw and some tools to build a wooden American flag by hand in honor of Memorial Day. When Jose painted that first red stripe he was immediately triggered back to the memory of the moment he saw their blood in combat. That memory has haunted Jose from the moment it happened, but in painting that first red stripe, torching and finishing that first flag Jose was able to find healing. From that day to present Jose has not stopped building flags for families across America. Jose made a solemn promise to himself to personally build and donate as many flags as he can to Gold Star Families across America and also to the families who have lost veterans to suicide due to the war that continues for many veterans they come home from service.

Mission Statement 

Through Art Jose aims to help give hope to the hopeless as “Hope” stands for something unique for Jose

Happiness 

Opportunity 

Purpose 

Empowerment