RIVER FALLS — The Sycamore, a River Falls senior living community, unveiled its Veterans Wall of Honor, showcasing residents’ years of service in the military.

Pat Schmoller, one of the faces on the wall, said it meant a lot to be part of the mural, especially as a representative for women in the military.

“It’s very special. You do your time and you do your service the best you can, and you’ve come and you’ve gone,” Schmoller said. “You’ve did your assignments without hesitation. That is an experience only unique to people that do go to a military service and create a career… All those people on the wall, they made that choice when they were young.”

Dena Young of Dena June Creations designed and painted the mural. She was at a site visit at a flower shop in River Falls, and a representative from The Sycamore showed up and asked her about the possibility of doing a mural at the building.

“It means a lot to me personally. My brother is in the Army, and actually he just got back from living in Germany for a year and a half,” Young said. “It’s one of those things where it’s a lifelong thing. You can just see so much pride.”

Young said many residents would stop by and show appreciation for what she was painting. Because of the good experience, she hopes to start doing more murals at assisted living and care facilities.

At the unveiling ceremony, American Legion members kicked things off with a gun salute, before veterans gathered to share their stories with the rest of the attendees.

Schmoller was originally from the east side of St. Paul, going to Arch Bishop Murray Memorial High School which is now known as Hill Murray.

“I was the first graduating class from the school when they built it,” Schmoller said. “That was a different experience.”

Since the school was not completed when she came in, she spent all her years as the oldest class, as a class got added behind them each year.

After going to school for accounting and programming out of high school, Schmoller was 24 years old in 1968 when she decided to join the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Upon joining, there were 2,200 women Marines including officers, staff and enlisted people. She said the Marine Corps has about 200,000 members on average, so women made up a small percentage of the total.

“The motto for the women Marines is ‘Free a man to fight,’” Schmoller said. “There’s jobs that everybody can do.”

Schmoller listed women nurses in the Army and Air Force members doing transports as jobs women serving could do at the time. Only women in the payroll department handled weapons at the time, but Schmoller’s training involved a whole lot of running, being exposed to tear gas and learning how to follow orders.

“If you join the Marine Corps, you better learn to love to run,” Schmoller said. “You start the day running and you finish the day running.”

Schmoller earned $102 a month. She made car payments on her car while it was at home, and after paying that and insurance, she had $18 to spare each month.

“You’ve got to buy your own soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, laundry soap,” Schmoller said. “What’s left? You could have maybe one Pepsi or one Coke a month.”

Over 23 years spent in service in photography was all worth it for Schmoller, looking back fondly on the decades of memories.

“It was all a good career, and I do not regret one bit of it,” Schmoller said. “I’d do it again.”

In the early 70s, Schmoller was a part of Operation Homecoming, helping prisoners of war return home through Hawaii. She photographed Richard Nixon, preparations for the operation and the return home, spending multiple years in Hawaii, sharing rent with her sister who worked in a nearby medical facility.

“They were pretty happy guys. They couldn’t believe they were finally free,” Schmoller said. “That was the most impressive operation that I was part of.”

Captain Marvel, who’s code name was “Shazaam,” was shot down and survived, continuing his service. Marvel was a prisoner of war, ultimately doing the speech for Schmoller’s retirement, and she said she could not have been prouder of that. She ended her career climbing the ranks all the way to Warrant Officer school.

Another moment Schmoller will never forget was getting to be on the runway when the Blue Angels took flight, getting a signature from Captain O’Hara on one of her photographs.

“The best in the world comes through Marine Corps training,” Schmoller said. “They make you believe in yourself and that you can do it. You never quit… You wouldn’t be there unless you really wanted to be there because you made a big decision.”