Scottsdale’s Marine Corps Mural has some new “guardian angels.”
The Grand Canyon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution have officially adopted the mural, which adorns several large wall sections northwest of the Civic Center Library.
The mural was created during Phoenix Marine Week in 2015. It depicts iconic U.S. Marine Corps images, plus a variety of Marine air and ground units training in an Arizona landscape.
An eclectic group of veterans, civilians and active duty Marines came together late last year to spruce up the mural which had been weathered by a year’s worth of heat and rain.
They included members of the DAR’s Grand Canyon Chapter and the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. Their ages ranged from 5 to 95, but they shared a common purpose – give the Marine Corps Mural some tender loving care.
David, the five-year-old son of DAR member Katherine Paulson, got on his tip-toes to scrub a portion of the mural with a green-bristled brush that matched the color of his swim goggles.
He was joined by Dr. Vivian Wood, age 95, one of the first women to enlist in the Marines at the breakout of World War II. Wood, a Sun City resident and retired college professor, embodies the Semper Fi motto of Marines – Always Faithful. She’s active in a variety of veteran organizations, including the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.
“The Marines had a tremendous positive impact on my life,” said Vivian. “I will always be a Marine and I plan to always give back to assist our Marines. The Scholarship Foundation and the mural are ways to do that.”
Looking after the mural will also be the responsibility of the DAR’s Grand Canyon Chapter.
“When the opportunity to restore and protect the Scottsdale Marine Mural presented itself, I knew immediately that our Grand Canyon Chapter needed to be involved,” said Karen Andrews, a member of the chapter’s executive committee. “I called our Chapter Regent, Susan von Hellens, and she initiated the steps necessary for our Chapter to fully embrace the project and become guardian angels to the mural. Our ladies look forward to contributing ‘hands on’ support in the future.”
One section of the mural contains local significance – it’s the silhouette of a combat cameraman and is a memorial to LCpl. Jacob Hug, a Valley resident who died in a helicopter crash during earthquake relief efforts in Nepal a few months before the mural’s creation.
A tree and plaque stand as memorials to Hug on Scottsdale’s Civic Center Mall, just a short walk from the mural.
The Marine artists who created the mural share the same military occupation as Hug. They include Sgt. Scott Roguska, who came up from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma for the second year in a row to assist with maintenance.
“Helping to bring the Marine Corps mural to life for the city of Scottsdale has been a true honor for me,” said Roguska. “It makes me very happy to see so many talented and caring people banding together to ensure the mural is properly cared for in the years moving forward.”
New this year to the project is Scottsdale mural artist LuAnn Beardmore. Her nephew is a retired Marine and she wanted to volunteer her talents as a way of saying thanks to him and other veterans.
“I am not a Marine, but I am a proud American and it seems there aren’t enough of us anymore so I wanted to do what I can,” she said.