“It’s a Ball Point, Not a Hollow Point” is written on the side of Jeff Falkel’s work van, beside a drawn portrait of Falkel’s late son, Chris, who was killed nearly 10 years ago while fighting in Afghanistan.
That’s truth in advertising, because the writing pens Falkel makes and sells are anything but hollow.
They are made from once-fired brass bullet casings, either .50 caliber or 7.62 mm, and sell for between $18.95 and $24.95.
They have helped Falkel raise about $300,000 to donate to four charities that help veterans or their families, and one that helps young dancers.
The pens help Falkel keep his war-hero son alive in his everyday life. He makes the pens one at a time in his basement of his Highlands Ranch home, and since 2007 he has cranked out about 150,000.
The portrait on his van is the same one that hangs in the family living room, done by artist Michael Reagan.
One evening, when Falkel randomly took a seat beneath the portrait, a torrent of words broke through the dam of his writer’s block. With his son’s image looking on, he finished writing “The Making of Our Warrior” in four days. The book is available on his website and on Amazon.
“I miss my son more than mere words can possibly describe, and I will never get over the pain of not being there for him in the next battle, which would be his last,” wrote Falkel, an Army veteran, in the narrative about that day his son was killed — Aug. 8, 2005.
Chris, a U.S. Special Forces sniper and weapons sergeant, was on a mission in a remote country. He was guarding a caravan of trucks when they were surrounded by a well-positioned Taliban force, including many in the ridges above them.
Chris’ last words were “I’ll take care of this,” a teammate later recounted to Jeff.
As Chris took aim with his .50 caliber rifle, a Taliban sniper’s bullet pierced his helmet. The 22-year-old Green Beret died instantly.
Twice earlier that day, he had fought off Taliban fighters who greatly outnumbered the American-led unit. He was credited for saving the lives of 10 American soldiers and 16 others from the Afghan National Army assigned to his team in a 54-hour battle. He was awarded the Silver Star, one of the highest medals for valor in the armed forces.
After he finished sniper school, Chris mentioned to his father that when he came home from Afghanistan, he wanted to figure out how to make ink pens out of the 7.62 mm bullets he used in his sniper’s rifle at school.
“Well, he never came home,” Jeff Falkel said Thursday.
His father decided he would take care of this. He would make pens from bullets and help out veterans, their families and children.
About 90 percent of the empty bullets come from a Salida vendor, who collects them mostly from gun ranges, but Falkel says many people bring him special bullets to preserve, such as the one they killed their first deer with.
The name of Falkel’s company, Junior’s Bullet Pens, comes from his son’s radio call sign. His father registered the business on the day that would have been Chris’ 25th birthday.
When he was 7 years old, Chris told his father he wanted to be a special forces soldier.
And he was a natural at it, his father said.
With a laugh, his father remembered how aggravated he would get when his son would borrow his woodworking tools and hide them in the woods near their home.
“If anybody attacked the family, he wanted to be able to get a weapon,” his father recalled, then paused for a few seconds.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174, jbunch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joeybunch
