Portraits of five Collin County veterans were added to the Hall of Heroes at the Collin County Courthouse earlier this month. Courtesy Misty Wiebold

A long-missing World War II sailor from Farmersville is among five Collin County service members newly honored in the Hall of Heroes at the Collin County Courthouse.

The portraits, unveiled during a ceremony in June, bring the courthouse collection to 115 memorials honoring local men and women who died while serving the nation.

Among them is Pharmacist Mate 1st Class William “Billy” Bain Honaker, 24, of Farmersville, who was serving aboard the USS Jarvis when the destroyer disappeared in the Pacific during World War II. Honaker and the ship’s entire crew were declared missing in action July 12, 1942.

Artist and project co-founder Colin E. Kimball said the Jarvis had been struck by a torpedo while protecting Marines landing on Guadalcanal. Although the ship did not sink, it was severely damaged. Seven wounded sailors were transferred to other ships, and the remaining crew completed emergency repairs before departing without an escort for Australia.

Kimball said the Jarvis was later spotted by a Japanese aircraft and “was ultimately struck, split in half and sank.”

“Honaker remains missing in action to this day,” Kimball said.

The four other portraits span nearly a century of military service.

John Meyers McKinney, 65, served with Capt. James Fitzhugh’s Company of Bell’s Mounted Volunteers of the Texas Rangers and was killed in the line of duty Nov. 26, 1847, during the Mexican War.

Private First Class James Marlow Morgan, 18, of Anna, served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and was killed in action Feb. 1, 1944. 

Sgt. J.L. Montgomery, 21, of Copeville, served with the U.S. Army’s 740th Tank Battalion and was killed in action Feb. 2, 1945.

Second Lt. Lindsey L. Bowen, 22, of McKinney, served with the 15th U.S. Army Air Force and went missing Nov. 15, 1944, during a mission over Yugoslavia. His remains were discovered in 1948 and returned to McKinney.

For Kimball, each portrait is more than a historical illustration.

“I always hand paint the eyes when I create the portraits, as they are the most important piece,” he said. “It gives a sense of the warrior’s spirit and soul.”

Kimball creates the portraits digitally, beginning with an original black-and-white photograph. He researches uniforms, military regulations, medals, badges, rank insignia and unit patches before assembling and painting the image in a realistic style.

Depending on the available material and research required, a portrait may take 12 hours or several months to complete.

Kimball co-founded the North Texas Fallen Warrior Project in 2013 with the late Ronnie “R.D.” Foster, a Farmersville native, Vietnam veteran and U.S. Marine who spent years researching Collin County’s fallen service members.

“He was the audio and I was the visual,” Kimball said of their partnership.

Together, they identified fallen warriors whose names were added to the memorial wall at McKinney Veterans Memorial Park, now named in Foster’s honor. Kimball continues the work, particularly the stories of World War II service members Foster was unable to complete.

Kimball is also a military history writer and has contributed to more than a dozen editions of the “True Stories of Heroism That Defy Comprehension” series. His latest contribution focuses on Audie Murphy as an “unlikely hero.”

“I discovered a few interesting details about Audie that have either been overlooked or gone largely unreported,” he said. “That was a lot of fun to research.”

Beyond the courthouse collection, Kimball has created more than 200 portraits of posthumous Medal of Honor recipients, along with portraits honoring fallen police officers, firefighters and other local heroes.

The courthouse exhibit preserves the stories of more than 400 known fallen service members from Collin County. More than a dozen additional portraits are awaiting installation.

“I plan on continuing this work until the Lord has other plans for me,” Kimball said.

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