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Artist completes mural on  city’s veterans memorial

All branches of service and each war are included in design

A mural recently painted on the Veterans Memorial in Monroe by Franklin artist Eric Henn is pictured Friday, Aug. 27, 2010.

Gary Stelzer/Staff photographer A mural recently painted on the Veterans Memorial in Monroe by Franklin artist Eric Henn is pictured Friday, Aug. 27, 2010.

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Franklin artist Eric Henn recently painted a mural on the Veterans Memorial in Monroe. Henn began the work July 1 and completed the work this week. Staff photos by Gary Stelzer

GARY STELZER/MBR Franklin artist Eric Henn recently painted a mural on the Veterans Memorial in Monroe. Henn began the work July 1 and completed the work this week. Staff photos by Gary Stelzer

ENLARGE PHOTO

GARY STELZER/MBR The mural cost $7,000, and was paid by donations that included the purchase of brick pavers.

ENLARGE PHOTO

GARY STELZER/MBR The mural cost $7,000, and was paid by donations that included the purchase of brick pavers.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Denise Wilson, Staff Writer Updated 8:50 PM Sunday, September 5, 2010

MONROE — A Franklin artist hired to add to the Monroe Veterans Memorial on Ohio 63 and Main Street has finished his work. Eric Henn was hired by the city’s 18-member Veterans Memorial Committee to paint the black and white mural in the center of the memorial walls, which he began in July and completed last week, said Ed MacDonald, committee member.

Henn was paid $7,000, which was funded with brick pavers and donations, on the memorial that honors all who served, he said.

“It is a part of the total memorial and it’s all military related right from the beginning of using all branches of the service, and all of the wars, too, ” MacDonald said.

“The memorial was great, but an old gray wall, it was kind of dull. This adds quite a bit of life and quite a bit of character to the total memorial.”

Henn’s work includes a drawing of a GI with his helmet on smoking a cigarette during World War II, he said.

“The symbol that we use to see all the time when they were selling war bonds and all the advertisement in the papers was a GI with his helmet on smoking a cigarette. Of course we’re depicting a certain period here, the late 30s and early 40s,” MacDonald said.

“Then you’ve got the helicopters and you’ve got the parachutes, you’ve got the Navy and you’ve got the Coast Guard. It’s a very interesting rendering all the way around.”

Other parts of the painting include soldiers raising an American flag, soldiers riding atop a U.S. Army tank, a military aircraft flying over water and a ship at sea.

The work also includes a military helmet resting atop a rifle stuck in the ground with boots resting at the foot of the weapon and a soldier standing on a hilltop in silhouette holding a rifle.

Henn, who is out of town working on another project, could not be reached for comment.

Some of his work includes several murals in Franklin, painting on two silos at Barn-n-Bunk Farm on Wayne-Madison Road in Trenton, an historic mural at the Fairfield Post Office and artwork on the TV Middletown building.

Monroe’s memorial was dedicated by the Veterans Memorial Committee in May 2009.

The memorial also features the “Spirit of America,” a large bronze eagle on a pedestal and an illuminated American flag.

The city purchased the artwork for $52,000 in 2002, city officials said. They estimated the total cost of the monument is about $230,000.

Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5219 or dewilson@coxohio.com.

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