New Mural Honors Nebraska Veterans

DWIGHT - A Nebraska artist's recent work serves as a reminder of the sacrifices that were made for the freedoms Americans get to enjoy.

Recent Concordia grad Marissa Fuchser, 22, completed her mural depicting the Iwo Jima flag-raising of 1945, which shows United States Marines planting a flag atop Mount Suribachi.

The work of art is displayed alongside the town's new veteran's memorial in front of the Dwight American Legion Hall. Fuchser who painted it all by herself say it took her more than 55 hours to paint and over two-and-a-half weeks to complete.

"I've painted some murals before. Mostly businesses and rooms in houses, so this was definitely the biggest project that I've worked on. This was my first outdoor mural so I was a little nervous approaching it. Learning a lot of new things about paints to use, and using scaffolding and ladders, and working on such a large scale. But everyone was really good working with me and getting everything set up and it went really smoothly."

The mural, which recreates the Pulitzer Prize-winning image captured by photographer Joe Rosenthal, is 14 x 20 feet. Fuchser added that painting the iconic image gave her time to reflect on and appreciate what it meant, and she hopes that it will have the same effect on others who see it.

"It was really cool for me to work with that photo and spend some time thinking about it as I was painting it. The sacrifice of the soldiers that were there during that moment, and the soldiers and the vets that have served our country and are serving us now."

The Dwight American Legion had been planning the mural and its recently completed memorial for several years, and Fuchser says she could not have been more honored to be a part of it.

"They've been planning this mural as far back as five years, and so there's people that were involved in planning it that weren't able to be around now that it's finished. So it was really cool to see that even though they weren't able to be a part of it being finished, to see it finished after all of that planning."

A dedication ceremony for the mural and the memorial has been postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic but will be rescheduled in the future.