This Memorial Day, people across the country will gather for a few hours in cemeteries, town halls and city streets to honor members of the military who’ve paid the ultimate sacrifice.
But through the art of wood working, one mid-Michigan man has taken it upon himself to honor the lives of veterans for decades to supply hope and remembrance to the families of the fallen.
Editor's note: This story was produced for the ear and designed to be heard. If you're able, WCMU encourages you to listen to the audio. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Rick Brewer: Wood templates in the shape of hearts, medals and emblems hang all over the walls of Doug Pickel’s 14x20 wood shop attached to the back of his home in Trufant, Michigan.
RB: Pickel says he doesn’t have the latest and greatest equipment. And sometimes, the plaques overflow into his kitchen.
Doug Pickel: It's a service metal plaque.
RB: He showed me some of his latest work laying out on his kitchen island.
DP: It's in memory of Joel McMann.
RB: Pickel has made plaques for veterans and families across the country.
DP: And then I have this one. This is one where the grains, another service metal plaque. This is in honor of Sergeant First Class Dave Chapin. Doc, they called him, so we lasered doc on it.
RB: Pickel doesn’t just honor service medal winners. He also makes plaques for Gold Star families, Purple Heart recipients and those who have fallen serving as first responders.
RB: And every single one is done by hand, even the sanding.
DP: There's a solid 45-50 hours in each one. Figuring glue drying time, lacquer drying, laser time all of that.
RB: Each plaque has a photo on it that’s been lasered on. From a uniformed headshot, to men holding up big machine guns and ammo draped around their necks to a smiling family portrait.
DP: This is when they really take life. Because the faces. And I don't know how God works it but I've worked some plaques that the grains just speak. And I...it's almost like you get an instant connection with a lot of these photos. And then when you meet the families it's just all more powerful.
RB: One of the first plaques Pickel ever made is still hanging up in his shop. It’s a POW-MIA plaque for Arthur Wright of Lansing, Michigan. He went missing in action during the Vietnam War.
DP: It was just a simple square with Arthur's photo on there. It says we will never forget.
RB: And of the hundreds of veteran stories Pickel has heard through the years, Arthur’s story stands out. Pickel says it’s the only thing he needs to explain to people why he’s dedicated so much time and effort to making these plaques.
DP: Arthur disappeared February 21, 1967, he’s still MIA today. Testimony to vigilance, his wife Uvha stood vigilant that any day now Arthur is going to come walking through that door.
RB: And just days before Arthur’s wife Uvha passed away, she thanked everyone in their tight-knit community who helped keep her husband’s name alive.
DP: She says, I appreciate everything that you and everybody else has done keeping Arthur's name out there and keeping that hope going for me. She says but nobody cares. That hurts. That ain’t right. How can you not do something? 40 years, still have no clue. That's a new sense of pain.
RB: Pickel has been involved with several non-profits and veteran charities since he started making plaques in the early 2000s. The group he works with now is a non-profit called “Give to Those” based in Boston.
RB: They pay for the materials, but Pickel says it hasn’t always been this way. He says he’s lost a lot of money making these plaques and has never charged a Gold Star family.
DP: I lived off of a retirement, I took my 401-K and I honestly I gave that away to doing the plaques for Gold Star families because I saw their reaction. They loved it. So yeah, anything for Gold Star? Yeah. Okay, I'll do it. Sure. Bam. I didn't think twice about it.
RB: And for Pickel, it isn’t just about honoring veterans. These wooden creations go much deeper. Pickel says one of his biggest regrets in life is never having served in the military.
DP: And so I guess this kind of became my way of saying I'm sorry I was too stupid not to, not to serve for God, family and country all those years ago. And, of course, when 9-11 happened, I was too old to go into the military.
DP: So for every plaque that I make, I'm sorry to the Gold Star families, I'm sorry, to those veterans that I didn't pull my head out of my hind end and serve my country like I should have.
RB: Pickel says the art of making wood plaques by hand is disappearing. But his hope is someone will do something to carry on the craft, to preserve the names and stories of the veterans who served and to restore hope to the families who paid the ultimate sacrifice. I’m Rick Brewer, WCMU News.
