Finally on Nevada Week, July 4th marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

And in the lead-up to it, we're bringing you stories on how Southern Nevadans are observing America at 250.

Maria Silva joins us with more on a special photography project, a tribute to our veterans.

And, Maria, it is a fitting story since we are approaching Memorial Day.

(Maria Silva) It is a beautiful story and a beautiful project.

It's titled 250 Faces of Service and Sacrifice.

Some of the veterans featured were World War II veterans, some no longer with us, which is why this project is even more meaningful.

The photographer behind the camera was raised here in Nevada.

He's a proud Nevadan.

He's even known as Henderson's photographer.

And when he was searching for a way to celebrate America at 250, he knew exactly what he had to do: honor our veterans and their families.

[camera shutter clicking] Dean Whitaker's story is amazing.

Dean Whitaker was a 19-, 20-year old navigator for the B-17s and a bombardier.

-World War II Veteran Dean Whitaker, one of the veterans featured in the photography project 250 Faces of Sacrifice and Service.

-Smile.

Lookin' good.

-Photographer Mikel Conrad's inspiration for his patriotic and heartfelt project started with a gift from his favorite uncle, Thomas Jefferson Montgomery.

(Mikel Conrad) My uncle, Uncle Tom, he was celebrating his 80th birthday about six, seven years ago, and he gave me the 600 slides from when he was in Korea.

He served in Europe, so it was during the Korea time, that conflict.

And I made a book for him out of those slides for his birthday, and he had memories of most of the images in there, probably about 80%.

And so understanding that and his vision of what he saw and the stories just was phenomenal as a family member, and so I thought there's more stories out there that inspired me to look around and find other veterans who've got those same stories.

-Stories like Lorraine's, a 100-year-old Army veteran.

-Her smile is just contagious.

She was a nurse reserves.

There's a name for it.

I don't remember the name.

But so she served here in different, in different areas in the Southwest because the Army took all the other nurses.

So she was part of that corps but serving here.

She just turned 100 not too long ago.

Unbelievable woman.

She was a pilot and flew some of those World War II test planes.

Back in the 50s, women were not pilots.

Mikel considers 250 Faces of Service and Sacrifice more than just a photography project, calling it a national tribute.

His motto... -Because behind every flag, behind every anthem, behind every moment of peace, there's a face.

Let's make sure they're not forgotten.

I want people to look at their sacrifice and see their weathered hands and see how they built things.

Many of these people that came back, these gentlemen--especially World War II, Korea, and Vietnam--they were school boys when they went over, and they came back weathered, learned.

A lot of them gained education and a trade while they were in the military, and they came back and they built the things that we have today.

-The theme of family-- -Those are a couple I photographed.

Both served in the Marines.

- --also an important part of this project.

-The gentleman is an ROTC commander at one of the high schools here in town.

His daughter is in that program.

The military genealogy tree is just amazing to see how many family members have such a great genealogy of military service in their family, and that's important to understand.

-The longtime photographer, no stranger to making sure the stories of our veterans are preserved and documented, serving as a photographer on UNLV's Veterans' Voices: We're Listening oral history project.

And he continues to travel with veterans to Washington, D.C., as part of Honor Flight.

-I'm part of Honor Flight, Southern Nevada.

I'm the photographer who goes with them every six months to photograph the history and the stories, the behind-the-scenes.

I'm kind of the fly on the wall on that flight, because I want to capture the emotions and what these veterans are feeling and what they went through and suffered inside.

Many of them don't talk about it.

It's hard.

And you talk about PTSD.

All these guys, they didn't know back then what it was, but they had it.

They had a form of it or they had that.

And so it's nice that on Honor Flight they get to have a little bit of closure.

It's nice on this project I'm doing they get to see a little bit of closure, a little bit of recognition.

-Many of the brave veterans featured in the project sadly are no longer with us, including Mikel's Uncle Tom and Dean Whitaker.

-It just breaks your heart because there's such great treasure that we have, and we need to remember that treasure on there and what they've given us on through that.

-And as we prepare to celebrate 250 years of independence, Mikel wants us all to reflect on this: -When we see the flag and we sing the anthem, when we see the fireworks, we need to remember why we have those celebrations.

It's just not about the parties.

It's not about the fun and the drinking and the eating and all that stuff.

It's about our families coming together, and we're able to come together because of men and women who have served this country for 250 years and have given us the different freedoms, you know?

As you look back at some of the battles that our country has gone through, not a perfect country.

But yet we've sustained, and we've given people the freedom to choose what they like to do.

♪♪ -More than just these stunning portraits, you also learn about these veterans and their service and families.

On the website, 250faces.com, you will find stories behind the faces.

Mikel is still working on that part of the project and is adding more stories and photos as we speak.

And, Amber, Mikel also plans to put together a book and a gallery exhibition.

Again, just another way to honor, respect, and show love to these veterans and their families.

-I would love to see that exhibit.

And thank you for that story, Maria.