Detroit Lakes VFW wall mural to honor all 6 branches of military service

Jul 29, 2023

DETROIT LAKES — Four half-face portraits of U.S. military service men and women now peer out from the north wall of Detroit Lakes VFW Post 1676; over the next week or so, two more will be added.

According to local artist Hans Gilsdorf, each of the six portraits represents an unnamed serviceman or woman from a different branch of the U.S. military: Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, Marines and Space Force.

"I wanted to include all six branches," he said, adding that each face also represents diverse aspects of U.S. culture: One is a Native American man, another a Black man; the Coast Guard is represented by a woman's face. Another, still to be drawn, will be Asian American.

The Native American Army veteran's portrait is an homage to the Navajo "code talkers" — servicemen fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English, who were used to send secret messages in battle. The Air Force portrait is of a World War I pilot, while the Coast Guard image of a woman is meant to represent someone more contemporary.

In between each half-portrait is a colored strip meant to represent a different ribbon from which a veteran would hang their service medals. One is the ribbon used for a Medal of Honor, one for the Bronze Star, one for the Silver Star, one for the Purple Heart, and one for the medal reserved for prisoners of war, or POWs.

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Once the portraits and ribbons are complete, he will begin work on the second part of the mural, on the easternmost section of the wall: A field of bright red poppies, and an American flag, next to which will be inscribed the words, "Out of many, one" — the official title for the piece.

The Latin translation of that phrase, "E pluribus unum," was once the official motto of the United States of America, though that has since been changed to, "In God We Trust." Gilsdorf felt that the original motto best fit the themes of his mural, which is meant to represent inclusion and diversity as well as to honor the sacrifice of this nation's military service veterans, when they made their commitment to serve.

The poppies, meanwhile, focus on a different aspect of that sacrifice: After World War I, the poppy flourished in Europe. Scientists attributed the growth to soils in France and Belgium becoming enriched with lime from the rubble left by the war. Thus, the red poppy came to symbolize the blood shed during battle. That image was reinforced by the publication of the wartime poem, “In Flanders Fields.” The poem was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, M.D., while serving on the front lines in 1915.

Since then, the poppy has been adopted by both the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars as their official flower, which is why it is included in the piece.

Gilsdorf noted that this portion of the wall will be a bit more difficult, as it sits atop a ledge which will make it impractical to continue to use the scissor lift he has been using for the first portion of the project. That scissor lift, which was donated for use during the project by Mark's Electric, has made it easier for Gilsdorf to move from one section of wall to the next as he completed each piece. The paint was also donated by Detroit Paint and Glass, and the VFW itself also contributed an invaluable service: The members of Post 1676 took care of giving the wall a thorough power washing and applying a coat of primer before Gilsdorf began his work.

Such in-kind donations provided the bulk of the VFW's contribution to the project, though they have also been doing a series of fundraisers for it, such as last week's street dance. The overall cost of the project was split between the VFW and Create DL, a community art project launched earlier this year as a joint venture between Project 412 and the Historic Holmes Theatre. Nine large-scale murals at different locations around Detroit Lakes are slated for completion this year as part of that project.

VFW Post 1676 Commander Jason Bristlin said that club members are both excited and honored for their club to be chosen as a site for one of the murals.

"I’m so proud of it and I feel like we won the lottery to get that quality of a tribute on our wall," he said.

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"We're so grateful to be chosen as one of those (mural) sites," added VFW bar manager Dana Haas, noting that Project 412 "has been working all over Detroit Lakes, beautifying our city and tying the community together."

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