A banner idea saluting those who have served

Although there will be no Memorial Day festivities in Grafton this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Rose-Harms  American Legion Auxiliary is reminding the public about its local veterans.

Last month, the Auxiliary installed 40 banners depicting former Grafton servicemen along the river walk in Veterans Memorial Park.

“We want to promote our veterans and that’s what we’re here for,” said Amy Luft, president of the Wisconsin American Legion Auxiliary’s Second District. “Our core function is working with veterans and advocating for them.”

Luft noted that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the national American Legion Auxiliary, which was founded in 1919 when World War I veterans were returning home.

“They were all wounded, and that’s when the aid from the women came in and that was really the birth reason of the American Legion Auxiliary,” Luft said. 

Luft approached the Grafton Village Board and Grafton Area Chamber of Commerce to allow the Auxiliary to display banners on 20 light poles along the Highway 60 bridge and continuing into Veterans Memorial Park’s walkway. Each banner displays a veteran on both sides.

Luft said there are two larger banners on the bridge that depict the namesakes of the Rose-Harms American Legion Post in Grafton. Fred Rose was in the Army when he was killed in World War I, and Roy Harms died while serving in the Air Force during World War II.

One of the banners depicts a more recent veteran, Peter Brunnquell, who served in the Army from 2013 to 2018. His mother is Cathy Brunnquell, a Grafton Auxiliary member and president of the Ozaukee County Auxiliary Council, who said she is proud to see her son on display.

“Being his mom, I had to ask for his permission first,” she said, laughing. “The picture of him is when he first started in 2013 and we are so proud.

“When I first saw his banner on display in his hometown, I got choked up.”

Luft said the banners were available for purchase by the American Legion family for $50 each, and they sold out within 30 days. The signs were initially going to cost $150, but Luft said CKC Graphics & Signs in Grafton underwrote most of the cost.

Luft said she hopes the banners will be able to remain on display through Veterans Day in November. She also said her future goal is to hang more banners throughout the community in the coming years. 

“I would like there to be an overwhelming response where there will be additional banners put up in our whole community in the next couple of years,” Luft said.

She hopes families will spend Memorial Day in Veterans Park to pay their respects to the veterans.

“The whole thing about putting this together is to let people know about the American Legion Auxiliary. We are an organization to support our veterans who are currently living and those who have passed,” Luft said.

“All of us in the Auxiliary have a hero in our family that served, and we want their legacy to live on.”