LOCAL ARTISTS COMPLETE DRAMATIC VIETNAM WAR MURAL

Visitors to Menteca, California – located in the Central Valley about 76 miles east of San Francisco – may notice a large mural in one of the town’s main intersections depicting gut-wrenching scenes from the Vietnam War. It’s the work of two Yucca Valley artists who say they were deeply affected by the work that they’ve done. Reporter David Haldane recently sat down with them for a talk…
They went to war almost as children. Many never came home, and those who did were met with scorn. Now, more than forty years later, some Vietnam War veterans are getting their due.
“They never got that welcome home, so this was kind of the welcome home for them.”
That’s Echo Westover, 29, one of two Yucca Valley artists who spent a year painting something called Welcome Home Warriors. The other is her mom, Linda Shrader, co-owner of a company called Larger Than Life Murals based in their studio garage.
Last year, the duo won a $25,000 commission from the Manteca Mural Society resulting in a 16×20-foot public mural recently installed on the oldest building in town.
Both describe researching and painting the mural – based on photos – as an emotional experience.
“We just put into pictures what they have on their minds.”
Added her mom: “I have never seen so many grown men choke up or cry.”