Westerville 250th Murals - Black Veterans - Artist Zach Cardoza
Black Veterans: Duty, Honor, Country
Duty, Honor, Country honors three Black veterans with ties to Westerville whose service spans the Spanish-American War, World War II, and the Vietnam War.
Created by Zach Cardoza, with digital production support from Brooke Cardoza, the mural features Capt. W.S. Thomas, Norman Wesley Tarpley, and Jack Dempsey Foster. Cardoza worked in soft pastels and focused on portraying each man as an individual, with careful attention to his likeness, character, and humanity.
Walter Thomas, a civil rights activist, served with the 9th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Battalion during the Spanish-American War. The unit was led by Major Charles Young, one of the few Black military officers to command Black troops during that period.
Norman Tarpley spent part of his childhood in Westerville and later graduated from Dublin High School, where he was an athlete. He served with the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War and was killed in action. Three of his siblings, including a sister, also served in the military.
During World War II, Jack Dempsey Foster worked in shipbuilding and was assigned to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. There, he helped repair Pacific Fleet vessels damaged in battle.
The mural is located at the Veterans Memorial, 325 N. Cleveland Ave., on the block wall opposite the POW/MIA wall.
As part of the Westerville 250 Mural Project, Duty, Honor, Country ensures that these veterans are seen and remembered not simply as symbols of military service, but as people whose lives and sacrifices are part of Westerville’s history.
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