Art Before Flight
Two Fallen Heroes. One Moment That Helped Shape CFH Next Gen.
Before there were national champions.
Before international competitions.
Before CFH Next Gen became what it is today.
There were moments.
Moments when Children of Fallen Heroes was still discovering what could happen when you brought young people, mentors, creativity and extraordinary experiences together.
One of those moments happened at a table outside a wind tunnel in Raeford, North Carolina.
Two boys were about to fly.
But first, we asked them to make something for their mom.
To understand why, the story begins with two fallen heroes whose families had never shared the same journey.
Navy SEAL Joshua T. Harris.
And Army First Sergeant Billy Joe Siercks.
Their stories were different.
Their families were different.
But years after their deaths, their legacies came together through art, gratitude and flight.
And that moment helped teach Children of Fallen Heroes what our Next Generation mission could become.
The Artist
The Artist Who Became a Navy SEAL
Joshua Thomas Harris could never be defined by only one part of his life.
Before becoming a Navy SEAL, Joshua graduated from Davidson College in 1994 with a degree in studio art. He later pursued graduate studies in architecture before enlisting in the United States Navy.
Then came another extraordinary chapter.
Joshua became a Navy SEAL.
He served in some of the most demanding environments imaginable and ultimately became a Special Warfare Operator First Class.
But becoming a warrior did not erase the artist.
That creativity remained part of who Joshua was.
So did his adventurous spirit and his connection to flight.
On August 30, 2008, while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan, Joshua was swept away by turbulent water during a river crossing and drowned.
He was 36 years old.
Joshua left behind an extraordinary record of service.
But he also left something quieter.
His art.
Paintings and creative works that allowed people to see another side of the man behind the uniform.
For Children of Fallen Heroes, Joshua’s art would eventually become more than something to admire.
It would become something we could carry forward.
Another Family
Another Family. Another Fallen Hero.
Three years later, another family experienced an unimaginable loss.
First Sergeant Billy Joe Siercks was a United States Army soldier, husband and father.
His wife and best friend was Georganne Siercks.
Together, they were raising two young sons:
Gage and Gabriel.
On September 27, 2011, Billy was critically wounded when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect fire in Logar, Afghanistan.
Georganne traveled to Germany to be with him.
On October 1, Billy died from his injuries.
He was 32 years old.
Gage and Gabriel lost their father.
Georganne lost her husband and best friend.
And life didn’t stop.
Children still had to be raised.
Decisions still had to be made.
There were still school days, difficult days, celebrations, discipline, worries, accomplishments and all the ordinary moments of raising two boys.
Except now Georganne was carrying something she and Billy were supposed to carry together.
Georganne
She Had to Wear Both Hats
Years later, Children of Fallen Heroes brought Georganne, Gage and Gabriel to Paraclete XP in Raeford, North Carolina.
We were taking the boys indoor skydiving.
They were excited.
There was a wind tunnel waiting for them.
But before Gage and Gabriel put on their flight gear, we sat down together.
And we talked about their mom.
There was something the boys needed to understand.
Since losing their father, their mom had been forced to wear both hats.
She was Mom.
The person who loved them, encouraged them, worried about them and celebrated their victories.
But she was also carrying responsibilities their father would have shared.
Sometimes she had to be the disciplinarian.
Sometimes the protector.
Sometimes the person making the hard decision.
Sometimes the person who had to say no.
And sometimes she simply had to keep moving forward when she probably didn’t feel like moving forward at all.
Before this day became about Gage and Gabriel doing something extraordinary, they needed to recognize someone extraordinary who was already standing beside them.
Their mother.
And that’s where Joshua Harris entered their story.
The Assignment
Joshua’s Art
Children of Fallen Heroes had taken Joshua’s artistic legacy and incorporated it into an art experience.
That day, we put art supplies in front of Gage and Gabriel.
Before they could fly, they had an assignment.
Make something for Mom.
Each boy created artwork for Georganne.
But creating it wasn’t enough.
We asked them to tell her what it meant.
And then we asked them to tell their mother something children don’t always stop long enough to say.
Why they appreciated her.
Why they were thankful for her.
And how much they loved her.
Think about what was happening in that moment.
Two sons of a fallen Army First Sergeant were using an art experience inspired by a fallen Navy SEAL to honor the mother who had carried their family forward.
No stage.
No ceremony.
No speeches.
Just a mother and her boys.
Before flight came gratitude.
Before adrenaline came reflection.
Before we asked two boys to step into the wind, we asked them to say what was in their hearts.
Then we opened the door.
The Wind Tunnel
Then They Flew
Gage and Gabriel stepped into the wind tunnel at Paraclete XP.
And they flew.
For Children of Fallen Heroes, something clicked.
This wasn’t simply recreation.
And it wasn’t simply about giving children of fallen heroes a fun afternoon.
Something much bigger was happening around the experience.
The wind tunnel could challenge a young person.
It could build confidence.
It could create mentorship.
It could put children in an environment where fear became something they could work through instead of something they had to avoid.
And what happened before and after the flight could be just as important as the flight itself.
That day began with art.
It became a conversation about family.
Then came courage.
Then came flight.
We didn’t know it at the time, but experiences like this were helping lay the foundation for what would eventually become CFH Next Gen.
His Twin Sister
Joshua’s Legacy Returns to the Sky
There was another part of Joshua’s story that mattered deeply to us.
Joshua loved flight.
So Children of Fallen Heroes also had the privilege of creating an experience for someone who had known him from the very beginning.
His twin sister, Kiki.
CFH took Kiki tandem skydiving with Greg Windmiller, a former member of the United States Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, and founder of Superior Flight Solutions.
There was something beautifully full-circle about it.
Joshua’s art had helped another fallen hero’s children express love for their mother.
Now Joshua’s own twin sister was stepping into the sky.
We could never recreate the experiences she should have continued having with her brother.
We could never replace Joshua.
That isn’t what Children of Fallen Heroes exists to do.
But we could help create a new experience connected to something he loved.
Flight.
And for a moment, Joshua’s legacy wasn’t something being remembered from the ground.
It was back in the sky.
What We Learned
What Those Moments Taught Us
Today, someone looking at CFH Next Gen might see indoor skydiving.
They might see young athletes training.
They might see national champions, international competition and young people accomplishing extraordinary things.
We’re proud of all of that.
But that isn’t where the heart of the program began.
The heart was there much earlier.
It was there when two boys sat at a table before entering a wind tunnel.
It was there when they picked up art supplies.
It was there when they looked at their mom and told her they loved her.
It was there when the door opened and they stepped into the wind.
And it was there when the twin sister of a fallen Navy SEAL stepped from an airplane and experienced a piece of the world her brother loved.
Those experiences taught us something that continues to guide Children of Fallen Heroes today:
The activity is the doorway.
What matters is what can happen when a young person walks through it.
- Confidence
- Gratitude
- Mentorship
- Courage
- Connection
- Belonging
- Discovery
And sometimes, flight.
The Intersection
Two Legacies. One Continuing Story.
Joshua Harris and Billy Siercks never served in the same branch.
Their families carried different losses.
Their stories began independently.
But their legacies crossed paths through Children of Fallen Heroes.
Joshua’s creativity helped Billy’s sons honor their mother.
Billy’s sons helped us understand that an extraordinary experience can become a vehicle for something much deeper.
Georganne reminded us of the strength carried quietly by surviving parents every day.
And Joshua’s twin sister reminded us that opportunities aren’t only about children.
Sometimes honoring a fallen hero means creating a moment for the people who still remember exactly what it was like to hear their laugh, know their dreams and call them brother.
That is why this story matters.
Because CFH Next Gen didn’t begin with a trophy.
It didn’t begin with a competition.
It didn’t begin with a strategic plan.
It began with relationships.
With families.
With moments.
And with a belief that the children and families of our fallen heroes deserve more than remembrance.
They deserve opportunities to keep living, discovering, creating and dreaming.
Art Before Flight
Looking back, we remember the flying.
Of course we do.
But we remember what happened before it even more.
A table.
Some art supplies.
Two boys.
Their mother.
A conversation about gratitude.
And the legacy of another fallen hero quietly present in the room.
Joshua gave us the art.
Billy left behind two boys who taught us why the moment mattered.
Georganne showed us what it means to carry a family forward.
And then Gage and Gabriel flew.
Before CFH Next Gen became a program, there were moments like this.
Art came first.
Then they flew.
Help Create the Next Opportunity
Every experience like this one begins with someone deciding a young person deserves the chance. Support for Children of Fallen Heroes turns that decision into rooms, mentors, materials and moments — the ordinary things that let something extraordinary happen.
- Confidence
- Mentorship
- Creativity
- Leadership
- Courage
- Belonging
- Possibility
See where those moments led — CFH Next Gen