A new mural to honor veterans is now up in Moreno Valley.

It adorns an outside wall of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8547 on Alessandro Boulevard.

Artist Brandon Carn, who lives in Moreno Valley, created the mural.

He got started with mural making by volunteering to help artist Rosy Cortez with her murals in the city. Carn had seen other VFWs with them, but also had additional reasons for launching the project.

He got to know the family of fallen Norco Marine Kareem Nikoui, who was killed during the attack on Kabul’s airport in Afghanistan in 2021, days before the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops. He also met the family of Dylan Merola, the Rancho Cucamonga native who died in the same blast.

He wanted to honor them and all veterans.

“Seeing what happened to them made me reflect on the numerous people I knew over the years from the Global War On Terror in different generations that either passed through Moreno Valley or March ARB,” Carn wrote in an email. “Some returned, some didn’t.”

Carn also hopes the mural ensures that servicemembers aren’t forgotten in today’s busy world.

“This mural being there, as simple as it is in design, I feel is a way of at least saying ‘We acknowledge you and what you did mattered,’ no matter under which circumstances or generation they were part of it,” he wrote.