It is not about compensation. Nothing could ever bring their child back. Louise Cohen, 53, of Farmingdale said the greatest gift a stranger could give a family that has lost a child in war is assurance that their child is appreciated and remembered for his or her ultimate sacrifice.

Cohen dedicates her time to make sure the families of Long Island's fallen soldiers know their children are remembered. Cohen creates memorial embroideries from her Farmingdale home, each bearing a photo and name of a local soldier who has died in battle. The embroideries are framed and either hand-delivered or mailed to the deceased's family.

The embroideries also include the soldier's rank and battalion, where they lived and their age, in addition to the date and location of their death. Each is also labeled with "Operation Iraqi Freedom" or "Operation Enduring Freedom," depending on the mission to which the soldier was assigned.

Cohen completes this project for every Long Island soldier who has died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each embroidery, from the research of the soldier's information to the framing, can take days at a time. There is no profit involved or political message being sent.

"It started as a way for me to say 'thank you' but what I get back from it is so emotional," Cohen said. "When they [the parents] hug you and start telling you all about their son...I don't know how they can be so giving when they've lost so much."

Cohen said that continuing her work is of special importance because it seems the public has either lost interest or has shifted its focus elsewhere.

"We think about the war as something so far away," Cohen said. "But the war and its casualties are very much a reality for families on Long Island. People are so touched to know that strangers do care."

On the day her son turned 18, the age most volunteers can sign up for the Army, Cohen recalls a newspaper article about the death of two local soldiers in Iraq. Both were only a few years older than her son.

Cohen began her support searching a Yahoo group for her embroidering hobby. The group, No Soldier Left Behind, which makes memorials for fallen soldiers' families was looking for help. She got the name of a soldier, as she has done now over 20 times, and created his memorial embroidery.

"When I started giving them out I wasn't really expecting anything back," said Cohen. "But to see these parents' reactions to something I thought was a very simple thing-they were so overcome."

Many would agree that the death of a loved one has a lasting and devastating effect on those left behind. A simple gesture like Cohen's can reassure a stricken family that their child's sacrifice will not go unnoticed.