SEQUIM — Artist Melissa Klein had a number of challenges in the weeks leading up to the unveiling of the mural that spans half of the exterior of Sequim’s American Legion Hall.
Klein had to find a way to represent each of the armed forces, blend her artwork on multiple surfaces, the weather, and manage 12- to 14-hour days.
And then there was Jack Grennan.
With just a headshot photo of the youthful man for whom the building is named, Klein had the task of re-creating a full-body image of the World War I hero.
“It was basically bringing Jack back to life,” Klein said.
When meeting with Grennan family members for a short preview of the mural — in preparation for the mural’s unveiling — Klein offered some disclaimers about the current state of the portrait, as she still had some finishing touches to do. That fact didn’t seem to matter.
“They started to cry. And I started to cry,” Klein said.
“They still keenly feel his loss.”
Grennan, along with the rest of the “Remember Me” large-scale mural, was unveiled Saturday at the American Legion, Jack Grennan Post 62 building, 107 E. Prairie St. in Sequim.
Free and open to the public, the unveiling will feature: a Sequim City Band performance; presentations from guest speaker Holly Rowan, president of the Clallam County Veterans Association, American Legion post Commander Carl Bradshaw, and Klein.
The mural “aims to holistically recognize their sacrifices and spark a dialogue with community members,” according to a press release.
“Remember Me,” the large-scale mural on the American Legion-Jack Grennan Post 62 hall, was unveiled at a public event on Saturday. (Melissa Klein)
“What we want,” Bradshaw said of the mural in a previous interview, “is to show what we’ve (the American Legion has) done.”
“It’s a great idea to draw community awareness to who we are,” he said, noting the Legion’s 98-year history of serving veterans, active military and the community at large.
Along with numerous avenues of advocating for local veterans, the Post at 107 E. Prairie St. is or has been home to several community groups, from Cub Scouts and women’s groups to Alcoholics Anonymous groups, churches, Daughters of the American Revolution, Toys for Tots and more. It’s also been used for wedding receptions and is a Red Cross shelter, Legion members said.
The American Legion Jack Grennan Post #62 was chartered on June 12, 1926. It is named for John F. Grennan — known by his friends as Jack — who, in World War I, was wounded in Germany on June 6, 1918, and died from those wounds between June 6-8 of that year.
Just 22 years old, Grennan was the first Clallam County son to die in the war.
Working on several pieces from her studio north of Sequim, Klein developed a bald eagle, the war vehicles and other various aspects of the mural using alupanels — composite pieces of aluminum that can be cut and shaped. The aluminum pieces were then bolted on to the side of the building after the mural’s background was completed.
She said she got plenty of support in the project, particularly from her mother Janet — “she was really good at giving me the right amount of feedback” — and from the American Legion members, who made sure she had all the resources and equipment she needed to finish “Remember Me.”
“They have forever spilled me,” Klein said.
Saturday’s event was the first time the Grennan portrait was out for public viewing.
“It’s because of guys like this that I enjoy these freedoms,” Klein said, reflecting on Grennan’s legacy and the legacy of others portrayed in the mural. “I get to do what I do because of the military.”
American Legion
The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. According to the legion’s website, legion.org, it is “the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow service members and veterans.”
The American Legion is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization whose members’ “sense of obligation to community, state and nation drives an honest advocacy for veterans in Washington [D.C.].”
The Legion seeks to have a strong voice in issues important to the veteran community, backing by resolutions passed by its volunteer leadership.
The organization also seeks to take part in a number of community activities, including Boys State/Boys Nation — participatory program in which students become part of the operation of local, county and state government — and American Legion baseball leagues (the nation’s first organized youth baseball league) and several youth-oriented programs.
Today, membership stands at nearly 2 million in more than 13,000 posts worldwide, according to the American Legion website.
Local Legion meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at 107 E. Prairie St.
For more about the American Legion Sequim, visit alpost62.com.
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Michael Dashiell is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which also is composed of other Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum. Reach him at michael.dashiell@sequimgazette.com.
