Pin-Ups For Vets Founder and calendar model, Gina Elise, shows appreciation to active duty service members at the Memorial Day screening of the documentary film, "Until They Are Home"



Gina Elise, Founder of the national award-winning nonprofit organization, Pin-Ups For Vets, was invited by documentary film Director, Steven Barber, to the Memorial Day screening of "Until They Are Home, to do what she does best by showing appreciation to America's service members.

Elise attended the Hollywood premier to pay honor to several Marines, who arrived from Camp Pendleton, for the special screening of the movie at the Director's Guild Of America. Elise arrived with over 100 of her popular "Pin-Ups For Vets" calendars, donated as appreciation gifts for the Marines by Elise's supporters in the U.S. and across the globe.  The 2012 calendar features, in its introduction, original nose art by America's last living WWII nose artist, Navy aviation mechanic Hal Olsen.  

Steven Barber's "Until They Are Home", a sequel to his "Return To Tarawa", focuses on the search for the remains of U.S. Marines killed in the World War II battle of Tarawa. "We found there were three to four to 500 Marines still buried out there," Barber said. Tarawa was a Japanese stronghold and the site of bloody battle during World War II. The island is now part of the Republic of Kiribati. Actor Kelsey Grammer narrates the documentary, a project praised by talk show host Larry King and actor John Savage.

"This documentary film, that brings to light the tragic deaths of the brave Marines who fought in the battle of Tarawa, is just one more reminder on this Memorial Day for all of us to pay honor to those heroes of all generations who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country," said Pin-Ups For Vets Founder, Gina Elise, whose own grandfather proudly served in the Army during World War II.

Elise, who is on a 50-state VA Hospital Tour to show appreciation and to deliver gifts to thousands of hospitalized Veterans across the U.S., also pays honor to active duty service members by shipping hundreds of morale-boosting care packages to the troops deployed around the world.