Look to your left for a sweeping concrete wall covered in colorful painted murals, anchored by a tall white flagpole and a polished black granite slab.
This is the Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Plaza. It is a deeply sacred space, born entirely from the sheer determination of local veterans refusing to let this corner of the city succumb to urban neglect. The creation of this plaza was a pure feat of grassroots grit. The entire six thousand dollar project was funded exclusively through community donations from VFW Post 7824, individual contributors, and an organization called the forty et eight's Voiture ninety nine, an exclusive veterans honor society originally named after World War One French railway boxcars that could hold forty men or eight horses.
The sprawling Remembrance Wall you see here actually started as a passing conversation. An English immigrant named Jerry Rolling was walking along the nearby waterfront with his colleague Nikki White, telling her about a Canadian town that revived its economy with public murals. White became absolutely obsessed with bringing that idea to Vancouver. Rolling later joked her persistence was like being pecked to death by a duck, but it worked. They co-founded the Clark County Mural Society, which eventually painted these massive concrete panels right under the active BNSF railway line.
When this plaza was dedicated in September 2013, the murals became incredibly personal. Veterans and their families were invited to actually paint their own names directly onto the wall. A former Marine named Gary Barker eagerly painted his name, reflecting on the famous Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC which holds the names of over fifty eight thousand fallen soldiers. Barker looked at this local wall and said, this is the wall I want my name on. I have friends on the other wall. I am thankful my name is not there. People honored generations of service here. A young boy named Sean Crotty even climbed up a ladder to paint his family's names high above the ground.
Maintaining this space is an ongoing battle against nature and industry. Because the wall sits in the shade right below the railroad tracks, it gets caked in moss, street grime, and heavy train dust. In 2016, a mural showing the sinking of the USS St. Lo was almost completely obscured. Volunteers spent hours scrubbing the twenty four foot wide painting with handfuls of ordinary household baking soda just to bring the vibrant colors back to life. It is a living testament to those who served, still fiercely protected by the community today.
Speaking of recognizing those who shaped this region, let us head toward another monument dedicated to the absent captain we learned about earlier. The Statue of George Vancouver is just a five minute walk away.
