Flag Sculpture Gives a Voice to Veterans’ Experiences

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A sculpture unveiled in the Mahoning County Courthouse Rotunda honors U.S. veterans, giving a voice to their experiences, according to those instrumental in bringing the artwork here.

Mahoning County commissioners revealed the artwork during a ceremony Thursday. It will remain in the rotunda until it’s moved to the veterans service commission office being built on Belmont Avenue.

“It was made in tribute to individuals who suffer from traumatic brain injury and to bring awareness to suicide prevention for veterans,” said Jennifer Baun, president of Northeast Ohio Women Veterans and a trustee of the Mahoning County Veterans Memorial. 

Memorial representatives were contacted by Dr. Chrisanne Gordon, founder of Resurrecting Lives Foundation, about bringing the artwork that represents veterans’ struggles to Ohio.

Gordon is a Mahoning County native who just moved back this week from Columbus. Gordon has been speaking across the country about veterans who return from active duty not having a voice. It was important to bring the sculpture to Mahoning County because it’s a community that sticks together, she said. 

Resurrecting Lives is a veterans nonprofit that specifically works with veterans of the global war on terror who are struggling with the effects of traumatic brain injury.

“In our travels, we were able to travel to California, and we met with Chief Joe Paisano, a retired U.S. Navy chief, who was an artist,” Gordon said. 

Paisano was creating art and inviting veterans in to see it. He had a piece he wanted to invite civilians to see and to listen to veterans’ stories.

Resurrecting Lives liked that idea and wanted to help him do it if he brought one to Ohio.

“We were able to develop four flags last year,” she said. “We’re hoping we’re going to get even more this year, and we’re not stopping until all 50 states have a flag honoring the veterans of their state.”

The other flags are in Alaska, Hawaii and California. Each piece is based on the flag flying over the respective statehouse.

“Part of the reason we’re trying to do this is, the United States of America is united,” Gordon said. “We don’t hear that enough. We are bringing back that concept to everybody’s focal point here.”

The sculpture is made from drywall screws painted and drilled into a background to form an American flag rippling in the wind. It’s designed so that those with visual impairment can also enjoy it.

Paisano’s mother actually was blind from diabetes, and he created art that she could feel, Gordon explained. “It’s an interactive piece in every way. You can see it, you can feel it, you can sign your name on it. You can talk about your veteran relatives who served our nation. It’s meant to be an interactive piece for every community that it serves.”

Gordon contacted the Mahoning Veterans Memorial representatives about bringing the flag to Mahoning County so veterans could sign it. The memorial is a log cabin at the Canfield Fairgrounds.

“The veterans memorial decided it would be a great partnership, especially as we’re trying to bring additional awareness to other veterans’ needs,” Baun said, listing a high suicide rate, mental health issues and homelessness as some of them.

During the fair, veterans and their families visited the sculpture and signed the frame around it. 

Baun contacted Mahoning County Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti to see the flag at the fairgrounds.

“When I looked at this flag, I was amazed at the way it was constructed, the way it was made,” Rimedio-Righetti said. “It was just unbelievable.”

The flag in the sculpture looks like it’s moving, she said. Rimedio-Righetti wanted the flag to stay in the county. Her fellow commissioners, Anthony Traficanti and David Ditzler, agreed.

Traficanti, whose father served in the U.S. Navy, said he was proud to unveil the flag and honor veterans. Ditzler, who’s father served in World War II, said commissioners always support veterans.

“It’s like they’re the foundation of who we are and what we are,” he said.

Veterans attending the ceremony added their names to the flag’s frame. Baun believes that’s an important part of the artwork.

“As veterans have served, they all have their own stories,” she said. “Some of the things those veterans have gone through, we have garnered those signatures and it gives them the opportunity to add voice to what some of their encounters … and the impacts that they’ve actually had.”

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.