onen "america tonight": back on campus. one year after we began our ground breaking look at sex crimes, how much has really changed and what fuels this epidemic of sex crimes on campus? >> and i tried to push him off but i was so weak, because of how intoxicated i was it obviously wasn't effective. >> when fellow students even

friends become assail ants, what the schools have and haven't done to stop it. and in mexico, the disappearance of dozens of college students south of mexico city and horrific study of the search for them. and one by one they string together a future. >> this is a mother of four. has goats and pigs and really done quite well. >> how a simple project became an opportunity for african women to build more opportunities for themselves. and good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. we began talking about this a

year ago and it is still shocking. "america tonight's" indepth study of students on campus, after our series launched a major initiative by vice president biden. stopping sex crimes on campus. campus.it's friday night. ampus.. it's friday night. homecoming at the campus and the party's just getting started. we saw it last year. >> having so much fun, everyone's so drunk. >> "america tonight" was invited into the house party scene at ku.

plenty of booze and no inhibitions. >> we drink and bring them home and break up the next morning and take them out to breakfast and we move on with our day! party. this is rebecca. not her real name. a ku sophomore who said her world changed last fall when a guy she met on campus raped her. >> we met at school, we instantly had a connection. >> it was on another party night. she remembers that walking home was a struggle, embarrassing. he handed her one red solo cup after another. >> at the party i had at least eight beers. at least. and then i had a vodka cocktail and a few shots of just straight vodka, as well. >> as it so often does, the booze took over.

alcohol fuels hall o half of all assaults on campus. >> i remember waking up and he was kissing me and before i knew it he was trying to have sex with me and i tried to push him off. but i was so weak, because of how intoxicated i was, it obviously wasn't effective and i told him no and to stop and that i couldn't do this. >> the justice department estimates one in five women will be sexually assaulted in college. most don't have the courage to do what rebecca did: tell the cops. she's never been able to see the complete police report but in it according to rebecca's lawyer who has seen it, the attacker admits having sex with her long after she said no. >> he fully admitted to continuing to have sex with me after i said no. it is against the law. >> it is against the law to have sex with someone who can't give consent. >> yes.

>> the university student affairs office found him guilty of the assault. they kicked him out of his dorm but not out of the school. >> what should the university have done? >> i. >> i feel they should have at least suspended him. >> rebecca says his punishment for rape was merely a slap on the wrist. >> it wasn't just sexual assault, there's a confession to the sexual assault. that's staggering. >> found victimizers rarely face expulsion. just 10 to 20% of the time. even when the university rules they are culpable in the sex assault as rebecca's attacker was. told

rebecca's family there just wasn't enough evidence to press charges. floored, the family sought out another avenue. for justice. >> we began just to think you know, really, something 92ed to be done to remove this young man from this campus. >> they fount it in the "america tonight" series, sex crimes on campus. >> we had seen al jazeera america's exposé last year, about the title nine cases and the yuck unwomen who were coming forward and confronting the universities. it was very interesting when we watched because it was ten days after this occurred. >> schools that get federal money protect their students from sexual assault and fully investigate abuse claims. >> did you know that title 9 could be applied, that university could be held responsible? >> i had never even heard about

title 9. i was one of those people that thought it's never going to happen to me. >> but it did. the university found rebecca's title 9 credibility and is now of kansas. in the years since the series aired, the number have tripled and 89 schools and universities are under investigation and for the first time the u.s. education department is public workly identifying the list of schools which are under investigation. >> it's up to all of us to put an end to sexual assault. >> as the obama administration urges more talk about sex crimes on campus. >> this is on all of us, every one of us to find campus sexual assault.

>> two states took more direct approach. under the yes means yes law, students must get a clear yes before following on with sex. >> the sexual assault thing is an epidemic. >> and sexual assault victims are increasingly . >> all three of my rapists are on campus. >> students here charge columbia failed to protect them and are dragging door mattresses across campus. a symbol they carry as survivors of campus sex assault. columbia junior says she has been assaulted twice. it's not easy for her to tell her story or forget the pain. >> what i need to heal, that's

just more time, and that's hard to do. when your school allows your rapist to be on campus. that's hard to heal. that's hard to move forward. so i would say time. >> time and a commitment to making a difference. speaking out to keep others safe. >> some students don't realize that someone they know might be a rapist. their vision of rape and sexual assault is more of the common, you know, a dark alley and someone grabs them. they don't realize their fellow students are rapist. >> over the last two years more women have come forward seeking justice. sex assaults are up 61% at america's universities. and over the last two years, more women are coming forward seeking justice.

sexual assaults are up 21% at america's top colleges and universities. >> this is just the beginning. it is part of a bigger conversation on sexual assault across campuses. >> the d.a. in rebecca's case is reconsidering his decision not prosecute. her university wouldn't discuss her case but the title 9 administrator at the university of kansas says they're committed to do the right thing. >> we sit down with each survivor, each victim and discuss the appropriate discipline or consequences in each case. >> but rebecca says that didn't happen, her attacker was not disciplined and she fears they too will be at risk.

>> going out somewhere and partying with guys they trust and it will be okay? >> yes, absolutely. rapes aren't's -- happen alleys in back alleys. it happens by people you love and trust. >> just days after we visited, rebecca's fears were realized. two people were assaulted. kaitlin flannagan spent a year investigating, the dark power of fraternities was published in the atlantic. kaitlin, you say there's evidence of the volume of sex crimes occurring in the fraternity system in the claims made against them. >> it's hard to know exactly how many crimes are occurring at universities.

the number 2 kind of claim is for sexual assault, far more than hazing, which we fell was the most important source of injuries at universities. but insurance claims show there are an awful lot of young women who are coming forward and saying, i was swealt sexually assaulted at a fraternity house. >> that rape cultural has -- culture has actually been established within the greek system? >> you know, when you go on, you don't have these kinds of problems. but every single campus in america that has a greek system has at least one fraternity house about which everyone on campus, right up to the president of the university or college knows is a really bad operator. and on that kind of a chapter you absolutely have what

unambiguously i would call a rape culture. planned party and events in which women are going to have sexual acts committed against them, against those women's consent or willingness. the very slow process by which universities and national organizations will cut those fraternities off is part of the problem and i think it's rising to a level of a scandal in american higher education right now. >> i'm curious because i hear from these young women that we've interviewed in the course of our reporting, they often don't what is happening against them is rape. do the young men necessarily view what they have done as rape, or maybe something of an entitlement? >> well, this is part of a broader conversation i think we are all having as a nation and partly it becomes generational. in my generation, we wouldn't have thought to call it rape,

and the authorities wouldn't call it rape, and the expanded definition of rape is a very controversial issue for some people. i know when it comes to young women at fraternity houses, there is often a big cultural backlash against a woman who would report rape, there will be people who say, what was she thinking of going to that fraternity house? she knows what goes on at the fraternities. but she got letters over the summer before she started college telling her about the history of the greek system and how great these universities are. there are active presence on campus. they're not just on houses off campus. they are promoted to the student union, here's the cafeteria, here's ten tables of greek organizations promoting themselves. so these women have a big presentation , their college thinks it's a place for them to conduct their social lives, given the fact they do have what i call a rape culture within them. >> thank you, kate flannagan, her investigation into the dark

power of fraternities. next time on "america tonight": his view of sex was it a misunderstand or a false accusation? >> i was just confused. so she looked at me and said, you know, it's nothing, i freaked out, i'm sorry, it was just a misunderstanding. >> the grand jury said there was no rape, but on campus the accusation stuck and ruined his dream. our christof putzel with the story of the reaction to rape and how the universities responded, his story, tomorrow on "america tonight." next up this hour. gruesome discoveries and suspicions. what

now a new wave of protesters from the >> devastating climates... >> if we don't get rain we'll be in dire straits... >> scientists fighting back... >> we've created groundhog day here... >> hi-tech led farming... >> we always get perfect plants everyday... >> feeding the world... >> this opens up whole new possibilities... >> tech know's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is my selfie, what can you tell me about my future? >> can effect and surprise us... >> don't try this at home... >> tech know, where technology meets humanity only on al jazeera america

>> there is shock, anguish and anger in mexico where authorities say they believe that dozens of college students that went missing six weeks ago are dead. their bodies tossed and burned

in a mass grave. government buildings have been fire bombed, even the national palace where the president maintained an office was attacked. al jazeera america correspondent disoorm takes us there. >> these are the faces that have inspired outrage. the faces of 43 missing students, corrupt cops and cartel gunmen. their disappearance a potent reminder that mexico's drug war has not abated. far from the screams of anger, scenes of sadness. magdalina oliveras, a mother of one of the students, cannot make sense of her son's disappearance. the government made their confession but she can't understand until the government

has confirmed their identity of the remains. >> reporter: this is where 20-year-old antonio studied, slept and dreamed of a better life as a teacher. as she cares for the youngest of her four boys she can't stop thinking of where her oldest might be. she has yet to tell his brothers that antonio is missing. life is on hold at the school. classes are cancelled, families are camped out, at the school, in limbo, waiting for developing news. images of the missing are everywhere. authorities try to wait for the

lucha, the organization of the. organizers tell them what action will be taken. and where they will demonstrate next. among them are survivors of the attack, like ernesto guerrero. he is trying to come to terms with what has happen. >> reporter: add this teacher's college, they follow a leftist tradition. steeped in tradition. the night they disappeared, they were march honoring mexico's worst massacre, that of an estimated hundreds of students. the normalistas as they're known are famous for direct

confrontation. they have long been a thorn in the side of authority. but on that friday night, their action was met with unexpected force. police and masked gunmen opened fire on the buses. six people were killed, many of the students fled, and the 43 were forced into police vehicles. according to the attorney general, they were handed over to guerrors unido,s. dos. at a recent press conference he showed video of the students reenacting the crimes.

>> reporter: this is igwala, the town where the traj city happened. -- tragedy happened. it looks like a normal city and is known by mexicans as the birth place of the country's flag. now it is known for something else. this is fraught with danger. >> as you spend time in igwala, as we have this past month, you realize people are afraid they don't want to talk and they don't know who to trust. and when they do speak out they say they could be targeted. they say no one is immune from the threat of kidnapping. most of those taken, never return. the guerreros unidos were allegedly in league with the local mayor and his wife. investigators say

jose luis ibarca, the mayor, ordered the attack on the normalistas, finally under arrest he's joined dozens in custody. he's become a symbol where not people say he is just an example of system rotten to the crime. where not only the politicians are turning a blind eye to crime they've become the criminals themselves. in a town struggling to come to terms with its now open secrets the people just want to purge the evil to igwala. this is the message that was broadcast at the local church. but the mass held by the local priest, francisco tehada, the mass was full.

>> unearthing the truth, that's what this case has become about. with no faith in their leaders, parents and vigilantes have been searching themselves. officially, the government has found 11 mass graves with 38 bodies. volunteers say they have found many more and won't stop until the full number of igwalas are known. >> so far, the government says none of the bodies match those of the students.

so who are they? will they ever be identified? 30,000 are missing in mexico, and many believe the government would prefer to leave the dead in the ground. these are some of the first graves discovered outside of igwala. those who live nearby say the drug gangs have used this property for years to dump bodies. >> reporter: i asked a federal policeman on duty if he had heard the same stories. that this had always been a place where cartels bury their victims. >> reporter: now, police won't let us go any further, beyond this point. but some of the graves found

here outside of igwala are about two kilometers up this road. and locals tell us at any time day or night for years, they would see cars go up the hill, quite full, and when they came down, they would be pretty much empty. this man has lived here for decades, he sleeps on a dirt floor. he would rather do so than be part of the gangs. >> reporter: many with few prospects do take the offer. but he couldn't be one of them. three of his 97 fuse have been missing for years. he often writes poetry to deal with the pain amidst so much death. his latest poems are honoring

the missing 43 students. >> reporter: the fate of the students is still unknown. their parents unwilling to consider the real possibility that they were indeed surprised by death that night. more than a month after their disappearance, finally, the mexican president granted them an audience. he is yet to travel to guerrero but it was a sign for this very telegenic president, hailed by the international media as the savior of his country, that this time speeches and sound bites won't be enough to satisfy mexicans. speaking

after the release of the news that the students were foun located. >> reporter: magdaleina oliveras is not satisfied. her view of the community has been turned upside down. >> reporter: in mexico,

clarity siems neve sometimes ne. just what happens that night in iguala is still unclear. it may never be. despite almost daily protests on the streets. for now, the only decision she can make is, when she can tell her other children that her brother may never come home. >> adam rainey joins us from mexico city. this is not the first time we have heard about the pervasiveness of drug crime in mexico but why this time has it caused so much rage in the communities? >> reporter: well, joie, to begin with, these are students all between ages of about 18 and 22. their faces are plastered everywhere in this country. and it's reality inspired outrage because people see them as utterly innocent, despite the fact that these schools where they studied have a leftist and

confrontation tradition, it's -- the idea that they would be shot and handed to a drug gang is just infuriating to this country that has as you said seen so much voyages and on top of that, the federal government even though it's giving nearly daily press conferences, didn't come to this case right away, only when guerrero state, a state racked with corruption, rotten to the core by many observers observation, and the country here is just fed up. they want to live in a place where they can rely on the government providing the most basic blanket of security and they say they just cannot hold their government account to provide that for them at this time. >> al jazeera's adam rainey reporting for us from mexico city, thanks. when we return, call it what you want. but a vicious and early bite of winter heads south.

how cold will it get and is this a first alert for a miserable winter ahead? later in the program when natural disaster struck, one year after supertyphoon ravaged the eastern philippines, why the country's most vulnerable find themselves victimized yet again.

>> now a snapshot of stories making headlines on "america tonight." new yorkers found with small amounts of marijuana may soon get tickets instead of a jail cell. big shift for the nypd. the department arrests thousands of people every year on minor pot charges. >> veterans day, a day ahead of that, a new director of the va, making it easier more proficient. the va has been under fire since springtime when it revealed that dozens of veterans may have died awaiting treatment at the phoenix va. >> a woman was stabbed in the

west bank, after a similar attack killed an israeli soldier at a train station in tel aviv. also on the weather, the winter weather, the official start of winter still six weeks away. but the first cold snap of the season is bringing snow, plunging temperatures and big travel blues. arctic blast pushing south from canada and heading across the country, parts of the midwest already under its grips. in minnesota, motorists were caught offguard. as much as two feet of snow is forecast for the region as well as subzero temperatures. dozens of flights have been cancelled at minneapolis st. paul and more travel disruptions are expected as you can imagine as the storm moves east. it's not just minnesota some 7 million people are under winter storm warnings, what we can all expect here is al jazeera

meteorologist kevin corriveau. >> joy joie, it's been a messy day already. over the next three days, tonight it is going to be that snow from the dakotas all the way across minnesota, wisconsin and also the upper peninsula of michigan you can see there. in that particular region we do expect to see anywhere from 18 to 22 inches of snow. earlier today we did see in parts of minneapolis already a foot of snow did fall during the day. we have seen delays over three hour arrival delays in that area. as you can see, the notice in the dakotas . as you can see, the snow is all the way to the dakotas, we'll see the temperature moving through. current temperatures right now minneapolis, sitting here an 29°, bismarck at 12, rapid city

you're at 9. gusty winds out there and what it's doing is bringing the wind chills way down in the region. rapid city at minus 4°. as we go overnight, 7:00 tomorrow morning, how about minus 20 there, and the rest of the day, we'll see temperatures slightly come up in terms of wind chill but it's going to be getting extremely cold and extremely dangerous in especially montana. cooler temperatures all the way into minneapolis. look at this, 29°, temperatures will be down 20 to 25° lower than what we would normally see. we expect the snow to phase out, on wednesday morning we're going to be seeing minus 5, billings

really low. and houston, 40. back to you. >> thank you. >> in the days the supertyphoon haiyan swept through, remarkably improved are what we saw when "america tonight" arrived there a year ago. but there is enormous frustration about the pace of the places like tacloban. over the weekend, the philippines president benigno no aquino was burned in effigy. more than 14,000 in tacloban do not have permanent the shelter .

typhoon haiyan, noan ther knowns yolanda, this is what we saw. community after community, in the eastern pasaias flattened. by haiyan. the destruction so complete it is hard to know exactly how many died but it was well over 6,000 with hundreds more never accounted for. full families just disappeared into the sea. >> translator: we lost everything in the typhoon. >> glen reale and his family are among many still living in tents. sheltered but not safe in this hot, fragile environment. >> translator: it's dangerous it's not safe to live here especially since all my children are female. >> sharp spikes in sexual violence are common , this man knows the danger. his 14-year-old daughter

barely escaped being raped by a family friend. >> it was dark and when i refused to go inside of the tent he grand my arms and held me like this. i struggled against him and i was able to break free and run away. >> the story is typical. the u.n. estimated 5,000 women faced the threat of sexual violence right after the storm. 13-year-old esther lee gaspar was victimized right outside her family's home. >> translator: i went out of the house after midnight to use the toilet. i had just taken a few steps out of the door when i saw a man. he quickly put his hand over my mouth and after that i became unconscious. >> she woke up in a field, one man on top of her, another nearby. somehow she got away. >> i saw a place where i could hide so i jumped in there and i hid myself in there. >> her mother found the terrified girl hiding behind their house.

>> sleepers, it's sunday, it's black, she's very dirty, wet, with urine and she was shaking. >> her mother said they have yet to send anyone to investigate. >> i went to lay my hands on them. there's no justice, past justice. we're not justice. >> for me it's getting worse. so we have plenty of cases coming in. in our center. >> merla arma is a social worker at a home for abused girls. she says the number of girls at the home has doubled since haiyan. one girl just nine years old was repeatedly raped after the typhoon forced her family to live in close quarters. >> it was my uncle. it was in the garden. i told my sister. she told a classmate who told a teacher and a social worker brought me here.

>> since the assault the girl has withdrawn. irma wants to get her more help but the staff is limited. >> they have not yet submit her for psychological evaluation. i'm the only social worker, for the 16 children so i really need a social worker. >> the philippines department of social welfare and a wide number of women's groups are reporting violence amongst the children of haiyan, but the country is horribly behind. >> five years, three years to get the decision. >> isra is trying to move on with her life right now but with her attackers still roaming free, she rarely leaves home except to go to church.

>> and i see men , 20, my hurt becomes faster. >> and she has little hope the police will make her attackers pay for what they did. >> translator: they don't care about what happened to me. nothing to them. >> when we return: women's work. the microeconomics of a simple project and how it is changing >> game of thrones when it came out, didn't hit any best sellers lists... >> the worlds, the magic and the fascination of george r.r. martin >> i'm writing the equivalent of a medieval world war ii... >> how his imagination keeps millions of devoted fans always wanting more >> it's nice to be doing something everybody is so aware of... >> every saturday, join us for exclusive... revealing...

and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time... talk to al jazeera, only on al jazeera america real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america.

>> we hear so much from africa that focuses on people, the mercy of hardships. there are also those stories about hope and those who make their own opportunities. from uganda in central africa,

"america tonight's" special look at women trading their way out of poverty. [ horns honk ] ♪ >> in uganda there are many kinds of people. most are poor. ♪ ♪ >> but even amongst the poor, there are the poorest of the poor, they often live in one room shanties barely living on

pennys a day. i'm one of those. we all have dreams of a better life. but is it really possible to ever escape poverty? through hard work and determination i have managed to succeed. today i'm helping to make a difference working with uganda's poorest of the poor. women, mostly, women who live on less than $1 a day. women who have experienced hunger, disease, and all that comes with that. this is a ten year old nonprofit organization that works with women in uganda to empower them economically and socially through the creation of small businesses. the core of our original business training was women who come in and earn income, through bead making, out of recycled i be paper, and those are the products that we

sell to fund all our work. when the women come into our programs, they are living on $1 a day. they have absolutely no disposable income. so the first training components of the program will actually give them all the components they need because they don't have the spendable income to produce that. once they start selling once they have a little bit of cash in their hands it is their responsibility to purchase their supplies in the local market and this has a dual effect. one is it starts helping them to run a business, it is their eventually goal to start their own business, you can graduate from beet beads for life and yon support your family in the future. >> sometimes, we can get this from the training we attain. a couple of years ago we launched our street business school and the idea behind this is really taking all the great curriculum and training and the way we work with the women that we've developed in our product

based programs and taking those to women who have a desire to start a business. >> we are going to see what kind of businesses we can do from. >> or maybe have a tiny tiny little business they can grow. the street business is asking the women to invest their time and energy in learning and getting coached to grow their business in a way that makes them more sustainable. >> my role today will be to guide them to see that each of them looks into themselves to see that the business that they're doing is it viable? will it be sustainable? what is the competition? is there enough demand, does the business have a possibility for growth in the area where they're located? if not, then this is the time for them to be about to change, because many of them already have a small business but they may not have thought about these things. so this is a chance for them to think about this, democratically.

they are able to stand alone and they don't need to depend so much on their husbands to provide for them. so these women are more empowered and this is something that is going to be in their life for a long time to come. she knows what to do. she knows like the quality. she knows it's important to bring good quality. >> what we do is we teach women how to be competitive in those markets. if there are five people selling produce, how do you have the best stand? how do you keep your customers coming back? these ideas around marketing and customer service are really critical. there are things that women maybe have never thought about or never learned. but it can give them an edge on having a really creative business that provides great value to the communities and sustains them. >> over there there are many vegetable stalls. but as you can see, they are not busy. no one is even walking there. maybe the owner is sleeping, waiting for the customers to come, or they're all running to her.

she knows it's good to have the customer care. if you take care of your customers they're come back for more and more and more. if you don't, then that is what will happen. >> this is her kitchen where she cooks her meals but this is a lot better than her former house. this is mary naega, mother of four. she is one of our success stories. she has a house, has goats and pigs and really done quite well. she's very happy because she is not poor anymore. >> she's saying that she sees everything is here now. she just couldn't believe that before life was many of those organizations that maybe just say what they want to do and they don't do it. but she is saying this is all evidence of what she's done through this program.

edith is one of the successful members of the business school. she has been about to change her life drastically after having undergone this training. currently she is able to make over 60,000 bricks and has started another business. this is a job that is basically a man's job but the very bad situation in which she was forced her to engage herself in this work. she's not so shy anymore, after that training. she's confident in her work. she will not hide from the fellow women who come to see her do this work. she does it very confidently now.

♪ ♪ >> it's always been our philosophy that business was the way to help women out of poverty. and what we really do is we create an opportunity for those women to create the lives that they want. >> that statement whether one can escape poverty i think yes. if someone really has that drive, they can succeed. there is nothing that is impossible. i know this for a fact. >> she says there is nothing that is impossible. great message and more opportunity. hundreds of those women in uganda are now working to create a market for shea nuts. that's used for moisturizer. and cosmetics as well. we'll hear how they're doing. ahead, mending a broken heart on veterans day. on our final segment tonight, a vietnam veteran's new mission using art to honor finally heroes.

>> scared as hell... >> as us combat missions end in afghanistan >> they're going to make plans for an attack. >> the only thing i know is, that they say they're not going to withdraw. >> get a first hand look at what life is really like under the taliban. >> we're going to be taken >> it's so seldom you get the access to the other side >> fault lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> today they will be arrested... >> ground breaking... they're firing canisters of gas at us... emmy award winning investigative series... special episode on the front lines with the taliban on al jazeera america

>> protestors are gathering... >> there's an air of tension right now... >> the crowd chanting for democracy... >> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live... >> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern

only on al jazeera america >> ahead of veterans day when we honor the sacrifice of so many who have given so much. >> as we end this hour with a salute, one vet, and gift to their families and he has given away thousands of them. al jazeera's allen schauffler found these extraordinary tributes in edmonds, washington. >> ten hours a day michael reagan draws. >> as long as people need these portraits and i'm able to do them, i'll be doing them. >> it brings him back, he says. >> i draw dead soldiers every day. men and women, old, young. >> back from vietnam where as a marine core rifleman he saw so much. >> he looked me in the face and said mike, i just want to go home and he closed his eyes and died. but i remember those eyes every

day. when i start those portraits i see those eyes. >> reporter: on this day it is marine lance corporal david fenn looking back at him. fenn died in a training mission this march. whoever wants one gets one, no military family pays a sent. one day a while ago, a marine wife wanted him to draw her husband killed in iraq. >> this was the beginning, and i've done over 3500 of these. >> simple lines that add up to complex images and demand answers of the artist. >> why are you here? why am i here? i think i'm here to do this work. >> reporter: every portrait is sent to recipients with a personal letter from reagan. >> should be just about the same. >> reporter: who thanks them for allowing him to share their loss and ease their pain. we

brought this portrait to corporal fenn's girlfriend. >> amy, we have a delivery from michael reagan. >> thank you. >> and amy frost can once again look fenn's eyes. >> sorry. >> this is an incredible broken heart in this country. there's nothing i can do to fix that. but i can try help fix that. >> you want to get as many as you can. this will help a lot. >> reporter: and even though he draws war dead, he insists his art is not a statement about war or death. it's an acknowledgment of loss and service, a mission and a calling. >> i didn't have a choice. this is -- i don't think i'm the one drawing at the table. i think it's my hands. i'm never alone down here, even though i may be by myself. >> so many finished, so many

left to do. michael reagan will keep at this job and keep bringing these eyes alive. >> until someone has to draw my portrait. >> allen schauffler, al jazeera. seattle. >> and that's "america tonight." remember if you want to comment on any of the stories on our program you can logs on to our website , aljazeera.com/americatonight. we'll have more of "america one year ago america tonight brought you the story that shocked the nation sex crimes on campus: >> i remember waking up and he was trying to have sex me... >> now we return has anything changed? >> his continued presence on the campus put the entire community at risk >> for the better... >> i was arrested for another false charge that she had made up... >> america tonight's special report

sex crimes on campus: one year later on al jazeera america >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello from doha and this is the news hour on al jazeera. [gunfire] the battle for beijing and iraqi forces try to take back the oil refinery from isil fighters and the ferry that capsized in april is captain is jailed for gross negligence and something goes wrong and 8 women are dead and a dozen are seriously ill andwo