Veterans Memorial Mural gets new additions thanks to Flagler man
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Flagler Beach artist Daniel Rose paints the heading over the Persian Gulf War section of the Veterans Memorial Mural in Palatka. -
Leo Granger and Daniel Rose look at the list of names of people from Putnam County who were killed or missing in action during the Vietnam War. -
Positively Putnam FL
One of Palatka’s murals has been getting some new additions recently to further acknowledge Putnam County veterans who paid the ultimate price while in service to the United States.
On Monday, Flagler Beach artist Daniel Rose was continuing the work he began last week at the Veterans Memorial Mural, which is located at the intersection of St. Johns Avenue and Sixth Street.
Rose was painting the war headings over the different sections of the mural, which features scenes from American-involved conflicts since World War I. Last week, he began writing the names of nearly 30 veterans who were either prisoners of war, missing in action or killed in action.
“I did 28 names the other day, and I’m going to do five (war) headings today,” he said Monday.
Rose is doing the work for the Conlee-Snyder Mural Committee free of charge, and he also donated $100 to the Robert H. Jenkins Foundation, named for the Interlachen native who died in the Vietnam War after falling onto a live grenade to save fellow Marines.
Rose, a member of American Legion Post 146 in Oceanside, Calif., is an Army veteran and said he does what he can to be a proponent of veteran causes, which is why he decided to donate time, paint and money to Putnam organizations.
“I’m a Vietnam-era veteran, so I can certainly appreciate what Mr. Jenkins did,” Rose said. “I support anything that supports veterans.”
The Conlee-Snyder Mural Committee began in 2015, and since then, more than 10 murals of varying topics have been painted throughout downtown Palatka.
Committee Chairman John Alexander said the Veterans Memorial Mural should be done after Rose finishes the lettering and Nina and Ed Mateyunas finishes painting the Persian Gulf War section of the artwork. Alexander estimates the work should be finished within a week.
Work is done on the mural as money comes in, Alexander said, which is why it is painted in fragments.
Despite it not being completed, veterans and their families still make trips to downtown Palatka to view the artwork, Alexander said.
However, he laments, some veterans can’t bring themselves to view it.
“Some can’t look at it,” Alexander said. “The minute they look at it, they can hear the sounds from the war.”
Another feature of the mural is Jenkins’ picture painted above the scroll where Vietnam War veterans’ names were drawn. Leo Granger, founder of the Jenkins Foundation, wants more local residents to acknowledge the men and women who served their country, especially the ones who never made it home.
Local residents might be surprised to know their neighbors, church members or other people they frequently see are veterans, said Granger, an Army veteran. There are some people Granger said he didn’t know were veterans until he read their obituaries.
He said he made a U-turn when he learned Rose was in town to paint and would be donating $100 to the foundation. Rose’s donation was a pleasant surprise, Granger said, and left him at a loss for words.
“I felt real good when I got the call to hear Mr. Rose was here,” Granger said. “When I heard this, it’s just … speechless.”
Despite the mural finishing within a week, Alexander encourages families of service members who were missing in action, prisoners of war or killed in action to submit their names to be added to the mural. For information or to submit a name, email admin@conleemurals.org.
“We request people of the community send their names of family members who gave their lives in the service or are missing,” Alexander said. “My father’s name is also up there. He died in World War II, so I never met him because I was born on D-Day.”