Even before a mural depicting American troops on patrol in Vietnam during the war was finished, Robert Chambers said motorists were stopping to get a closer view of the wall at Dalton Funeral Home.
“People were turning into the parking lot and circling the building,” said Chambers, who co-owns the funeral home with Tim Rowe. “We have three to five cars a day that come in and circle the building to get a better look at it, and they take pictures of it. It has picked up a lot of attention.”
As an “old Vietnam vet” himself, Chambers reveals “that’s kinda where it started.”
“We put it up there to say ‘Thank you and welcome home,’” he said of the distinctive and expansive display standing out at 620 S. Glenwood Ave. “Jimmy Cagle and Gary Cruse (Murray Countians killed in Vietnam) and I were all in the 4th Battalion, 25th Infantry Division together, the ‘Tropical Lightning’ division. I was there in 1970, and they were there before me, a couple of years ahead of me.”
Chambers said Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce leaders suggested muralist Mayelli Meza for commission of the work, and he gave her an old photo to work with. Meza, who is currently painting a mural on the side of the Murray County Chamber of Commerce building in downtown Chatsworth, said the Vietnam mural took her “probably about four or five weeks, working around rainy days,” to complete.
She has around 40 murals bearing her name, including one on the South Pentz Street side of the Oakwood Cafe in downtown Dalton, and two more local ones on East Morris Street and in Dawnville.
“I’ve been in Dalton over 30 years now,” she said. “I attended high school at Northwest Whitfield, but didn’t finish before returning to go to school in Mexico. I came back to the states and got my GED.”
For the Murray chamber, her mural incorporates a landscape of mountains with wildflowers and a black bear. When a photo of her Vietnam mural was posted on social media, it got some immediate responses:
TJ Hambright: “It’s the best one in town! I’m glad our military is being honored and remembered for their sacrifices. Our nation should be grateful and always remember them.”
Jobie Ralston: “Wow, it’s really good! I will have to check that out in person.”
Bryant Strickland (a Vietnam veteran from Ellijay): “Wow, I’ll go check it out … Nice!”
Chambers was asked if he had any “close calls” during combat forays in Vietnam.
“I would say yes — I stayed infantry my whole tour over there, so we stayed in the field,” he replied. “The good thing was we were in a mechanized unit, so we didn’t have to do as much walking as some of the others.”
Did he lose any friends?
“We lost some friends,” he said solemnly.