{"id":25007,"date":"2024-11-05T15:14:23","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T22:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/veterans-navajo-code-talkers-honored-with-mural-unveiling-at-american-legion-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:06:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:06:40","slug":"veterans-navajo-code-talkers-honored-with-mural-unveiling-at-american-legion-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/veterans-navajo-code-talkers-honored-with-mural-unveiling-at-american-legion-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans, Navajo Code Talkers honored with mural unveiling at American Legion in Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango artist Parker Ledford holds an artist\u2019s sketch on Saturday of the mural he is painting on the north side of the Durango American Legion Post 28 on East Second Avenue with the help of his wife Macqenna Ledford. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A mural honoring veterans of the Durango area\u2019s past was unveiled Saturday at the American Legion Post 28 on East Second Avenue.<\/p>\n

The mural features Navajo Nation code talkers and U.S. Navy Blue Angel Jeff Kuss, \u201ca fearless leader, son, brother, cousin, father and hero,\u201d as described by American Legion Post 28 Cmdr. Melinda Michael, who emceed the celebratory gathering.<\/p>\n

Acknowledgments were also made to U.S. Marine John Kinsel Sr., a WW2 Navajo code talker who died last month at the age of 107, and Anna Martinez of the Navajo Nation, representing her parents, including her father who was a WW2 Purple Heart recipient.<\/p>\n

\"American
American Legion Post 28 Cmdr. Melinda Michael speaks on Saturday during a gathering at the post. The gathering for the unveiling of a mural on the north side of the building celebrating the Durango area\u2019s veteran history, including the late U.S. Navy Blue Angels\u2019 Jeff Kuss and WWII code talkers of the Navajo Nation. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Artist Parker Ledford, born and raised in Durango, said he is honored to celebrate local culture and people who mean so much to the city and its past. The chance to work on the American Legion\u2019s mural honoring veterans is an opportunity to create something perhaps more impactful than his usual works.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou feel like you can really feel the heart in it, and just how much people care about it, even passing by, even though it\u2019s not done,\u201d he said. \u201cSo many people have just expressed so much joy about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

One woman passed Ledford as he was working on Friday and stopped, recognizing Kuss\u2019s image. She was nearly moved to tears, he said.<\/p>\n

He began preparations to paint on the north side of the American Legion building around Oct. 1, and began work on the mural about Oct. 10, he said. The wet weather hasn\u2019t been very accommodating of his efforts, but he\u2019s enjoyed the project.<\/p>\n

Sketches performed on the building before he ever took a brush to the facade had already intrigued passersby, who were quick to notice Kuss\u2019 likeness, he said.<\/p>\n

\"A
A mural honoring veterans of the Durango area\u2019s past was unveiled Saturday at the American Legion Post 28 on East Second Avenue. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kuss\"
Kuss<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

His goal with the mural was to celebrate local culture and history and the impact the American Legion has had on the community. He didn\u2019t know about Kuss until he accepted the project and began brainstorming with Michael. But from there, he knew he had to include Kuss, who he said is a \u201chometown hero.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the unveiling Saturday was a unique and special experience where he heard from elders of the Navajo and Southern Ute tribes, which drove home how special the piece is to a diverse group of people in and around the greater Durango area.<\/p>\n

La Plata County Historical Society Board President Sidny Zink said the Animas Museum in Durango is currently featuring a WWII exhibit.<\/p>\n

Blue Star Mom Jill Williams said the Blue Star Moms are heading the American Legion\u2019s Wreaths Across America efforts at Durango\u2019s Greenmount Cemetery this year. The goal is to decorate every single veteran\u2019s grave with a live wreath on Dec. 14.<\/p>\n

Wreaths are $17 and there are over 1,300 graves at Greenmount Cemetery, she said, adding that Blue Star Moms are trying to raise $22,100 to accomplish the feet and are seeking sponsorships.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

County Historical Society, Indigenous tribal representatives, Chamber of Commerce speak at ceremony<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2641,246,364,950,28,714,1655,629],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-american-legion","tag-arts-general","tag-community","tag-durango","tag-headlines","tag-human-interest","tag-navajo-nation","tag-southern-ute-indian-tribe"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78767,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25007\/revisions\/78767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25007"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}