It was decades before Carter County teens Whittney Williams and Ashley Alexander were born when American napalm bombs rained fire upon the dense jungle terrain of Vietnam. But Olive Hill veterans Wendell Dickerson and Phil Roar saw those raging infernos with their own eyes during their military service in the controversial conflict.

A summer project launched by the Northeast Kentucky Community Action Agency's Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Youth Transition Program is helping bridge the gap between those two generations by creating a lasting, public memorial honoring the sacrifice of American servicemen and women.

With the guidance and hands-on help of local high school art instructors Larry Carroll and Brian Mosier, WIA Youth program participants Williams and Alexander transformed a nondescript block wall beside Veterans’ Park in downtown Grayson into a 100-foot-long, 10-foot-tall mural bearing five vivid scenes that represent all major American military actions from World War I through the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

After six weeks of almost daily work—and about 1,000 square feet of paint—the crew recently finished work for the summer. Dickerson and Roar, who were in Grayson on business, walked over to the mural after noticing the striking silhouette of a Vietnam-era American soldier against an intense backdrop of red, orange, and yellow flames.

Each of the mural’s five sections includes a large map of the area where combat took place. The two aging veterans point out the areas where they served in Vietnam, and only then realized they were stationed “almost next door” to each other, Roar said.

“It’s good that they’re recognizing what we did, and I think that recognition is greater now than ever before,” said Roar, a Navy veteran. “The images that are here represent exactly what we went through, and it’s great for these kids to do this because they realize that our sacrifices are why they’re free and can do things now.”

Dickerson, an Army veteran whose military ties trace back to his grandfather’s service in World War I, agreed.

“I also had uncles who served in World War II, so from the time I was three years old, I can remember all of this,” he said. “I think it’s good for the younger generation to be doing this, and it does make us feel better and shows that people do care about us now.”

Veterans’ visits to the in-progress mural make the work even more worthwhile, said Williams. An East Carter High School graduate, Williams plans to become an art major at nearby Morehead State University this fall.

“They’ll come up and look at our images, and it flashes back in their mind to when they were in the war,” Williams said. “One guy came up and told us about landing in Normandy, and others have told us about Vietnam.”

Alexander, a West Carter High School junior, said those visits have also yielded several tips from veterans that they have applied to ensure their images are as accurate as possible.

“We originally started with the soldier holding a flamethrower in the Vietnam scene,” Alexander said.

Those plans changed when a veteran told them the soldier should instead be holding an M-16 rifle, because most soldiers who fought in Vietnam did not commonly use a flamethrower.

“So we painted a bomber dropping napalm, and a soldier walking in front of the fire,” she said.

Joletta Morgan, director of the Northeast Kentucky Community Action Agency’s WIA Youth Program, said veterans paying that kind of close attention to the participants’ work shows how much the project truly means to them.

Working on the mural has also been a beneficial leadership-building exercise for Williams and Alexander, Morgan added.

“They’re getting a personal understanding of what these wars meant to the country, and developing an appreciation of what these soldiers lived through for our freedom,” she said.

Morgan said the project meshes perfectly into the framework of the WIA Youth Program, which provides a broad array of year-round services including: tutoring, study skills, alternative schooling, leadership development, mentoring, guidance and counseling. Participating teens and young adults can also be placed in both public and private-sector work experience jobs that match their interests and teach career skills.

The WIA Youth Program is administered by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP), and provided in Carter, Elliott, and Lawrence counties through the Northeast Kentucky Community Action Agency.

Williams and Alexander are participants in Northeast’s WIA Youth Transition Program, which serves young people who are still in school. Morgan said the program—named “Youthscape”—places students in activities and services that encourage them and enable them to earn a high school diploma or equivalent, and enter college, postsecondary training, or sustainable employment.

The core components of Youthscape involve empowering students to develop a positive self image through education, group leadership activities, individual mentoring, and interaction with peers and strong leaders, Morgan added.

“This project is letting Whittney and Ashley make their mark on the community, and is giving them a sense of ownership of something major that will always be here,” Morgan said. “It’s great both for them and the community.”

Mike Malone, secretary of Carter County’s Citizens for Veterans Association—the park’s proprietors—agreed.

“Many history classes teach about these events like a 30-second soundbyte on TV,” Malone said. “But people will be able to look at this mural and think about what it represents, and we hope it starts some thinking that will encourage people to look into the history behind the scenes even more.”