Statue honors fallen soldiers

A solitary man stands motionless, gazing at the Purple Heart in his cupped hands, remembering his child, a fallen soldier. 

That's the scene of the new sculpture, "Purple Heart," located next to the Ruth Towne Museum and Visitor Center, honoring fallen military Truman State alumni.

Mark Gambiana, University Advancement vice president, said the sculpture has been in the works for about three years, since an anonymous donor gave $35,000 to improve art on campus. Gambiana said the University worked with local sculptor Brandon Crandall, who saw the memorial plaques outside the Ruth Towne Museum and wanted to do an accompanying sculpture.

"I was like, ‘It would be nice to have something that is interacting with those plaques a little bit," Crandall said. "That's how [the sculpture] was born, as if he's a person there mourning his son's or his daughter's death, and all he has left is a purple heart."

Crandall took his inspiration and worked for nine months to sculpt the piece with waxy clay, he said. He then took it to a foundry in Kansas City, for it to be cast in bronze, which took about a year. 

He said he hopes people take a pause when they see his sculpture.

"I hope that they have some emotion about it because if they do that, then I've done my job pretty well," he said. "If they look at it and it doesn't do anything at all, then obviously I failed in that regard." 

The sculpture was dedicated during November on Veterans Day, Gambiani said, and drew more than 175 people in attendance, including local American Legion members. 

Gambiani said he learned about Jedh Barker, a Truman alumnus who enlisted in the Marine Corps, after studying at the University for a year. Killed in combat in Vietnam in 1967, Barker was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1969, and remains the only Truman alumnus to have received the prestigious award. Gambiani invited Barker's family to the event, and his brother spoke at the dedication ceremony.

Admissions Director Melody Chambers works in the Ruth Towne Museum and attended the dedication ceremony. She said she was moved by both the ceremony and the statue's meaning.

"It really is a reminder of the sacrifices military families make for all of us," she said. "The fact that I walk past it multiple times a day — it does cause me to reflect on that more than I had previously." 

Chambers said that because the statue is life-size and so realistic, some people might mistake it for a real person, but she said she and her coworkers have become used to it. The Ruth Towne Museum also houses a similar life-size Harry S. Truman statue, so the workers are acclimated with having the figures nearby.

"Our staff is honored to be in a location where we have access to this wonderful facility and be the keepers of some pretty amazing art, too," she said.