Man from Maine thanks Mt. Pleasant Veterans

MT. PLEASANT — After months of anticipation and creative problem solving, Mt. Pleasant’s Veterans of Foreign Wars proudly displays one of only 15 Eagles for Veterans in the country.

This majestic eagle displayed in the local VFW extends a vertical wing length of approximately 35 inches by 47 inches and appropriately resides just behind the post’s POW-MIA table.

The hand-carved artwork is also hand-painted and gilded with 23-Karat gold leaf.

According to the craftsman James McCain, another professional furniture carpenter has listed very similar pieces for sale at $17,000 each, however, he provides these masterpieces to veteran organizations completely free.

“All it is really is just a thank you,” the craftsman James McCain said. “ … And it really is no more complicated than that. It's really not.”

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According to McCain the Eagles for Veterans concept is simple. McCain works with a few assistants to hand craft large eagles from eastern white pine in the patriotic style of the 19th century Maine woodcarver John Haley Bellamy and then donate them to veteran organizations around the country.

How did a woodcarver from Maine make his way to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa with such an extravagant gift?

While McCain says he comes from The South, his wife was born in Burlington, and her sister Becky Wright actually got the ball rolling to bring an Eagle for Veterans to Mt. Pleasant.

When McCain asked Wright if she had any connections with veteran associations she could put him in touch with, she immediately thought of the VFW where her Daughters of the Revolutionary War used to regularly hold their meetings.

“We do bingo up here every Monday night,” Robin Daniel of the VFW said. “And [Becky] came up and introduced herself to me, and asked if we would be interested in an eagle.”

According to Wright, she then showed the VFW pictures of McCain’s work and told them how he wanted to distribute these pieces of art around the country to show his gratitude to those that served.

With their approval, Wright began the nomination process, then McCain set to work creating not only one, but ultimately two eagles for Mt. Pleasant VFW. Each one took at least 170 hours of manpower to complete.

The first eagle created for them came incredibly damaged after traveling through the United States Postal Service in December last year.

The second eagle, McCain attempted to ship a slightly different design of eagle, but this one also arrived damaged.

“It broke the wing tips off and crushed part of its head,” McCain said.

With not much luck shipping the pieces, McCain worked with a woodcarver in Iowa to repair the second eagle before it made its way to Mt. Pleasant to be hung in the VFW, but with intents of sending additional eagles to Iowa, McCain decided he would not take any more chances.

So, he hopped on the road with his son-in-law, Saturday and two hand delivered three eagles to various veteran organizations in Iowa and Wisconsin.

On his journey, he stopped by Mt. Pleasant VFW Monday and had to put a few finishing touches on the eagle repaired by the other woodworker. According to Wright, McCain noticed imperfections that no one else could see, and he ensured the eagle was just right before heading on his way to finish delivering the additional eagles.

“He worked on it the last full 24 hours,” Wright said. “He's the artiste and he didn’t like the small imperfections. So, that's why he came down here to fix it.”

Even before the final touches, Daniel said seeing the eagle come through the doors for the fist time moved him to tears.

“We greatly appreciate the over-the-top gesture, that’s for sure,” Daniels told McCain.

“It really is pretty cool,” he said as he admired the eagle.

The Mt. Pleasant VFW members can’t wait to show off this beautiful piece of artwork as they welcome their district meeting this Saturday.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com