Chaplain Statue Scottsdale, AZ

Owned and commissioned by the City of Scottsdale under the collection of Scottsdale Public Art, is a statue deeply adored and revered. It is VFW Post 3513 Commander Austin Deuel’s; The Chaplain, a bronze sculpture that honors the memory of veterans and their chaplains. The statue serves as a gathering place for veterans and other special celebrations at the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall. The Chaplain succeeded the Scottsdale’s veteran’s memorial plaque in the mall. The Chaplain, now big enough to accommodate larger honorary ceremonies.

Scottsdale Public Art

Scottsdale Public Art and the City of Scottsdale, Arizona assisted in what originally was a community-initiated project. The siting costs were supported and bore by the city while the sculpture was commissioned and paid for entirely by veteran’s fundraising efforts. The sculpture was very well received for all that it stood for and Deuel also as a monumental Vietnam Veterans Memorial in San Antonio, Texas to his name.

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Ode to the World War 1

The statue itself is of a chaplain during the first World War with a wheel and a helmet on the ground, all sitting a lot of a large stone base. The stone base honors later wars. Being a memorial to World War I, the number of dead (116,516) and wounded (204,092) in that war are listed on the wheel. Scottsdale being a city that highly honors its citizens and veterans acknowledge as a whole, the sacrifices made by its veterans so the ones they fought for could live in a better country and see a better tomorrow. The veterans are honored for their fidelity, their courage and their loyalty to their country. Scottsdale does so by holding various honorary ceremonies where families of the veterans as well as the general public come together to honor the veterans.

Honoring the Chaplains

The statue also serves to honor the chaplains that would accompany the soldiers during military skirmishes. On the frontlines, morale often gets low and soldiers look up their charismatic leaders to rekindle their fight. While platoon commanders were very well versed in the act of inspiring courage, delivering speeches that would arouse courage within the troops, the chaplains were there to provide spiritual and pastoral support for service personnel. Their duties included the conduct of religious services at sea or in the field. They would go along with all branches of military service to spread the message of God and to make sure that the soldiers were not at a spiritual low. This contributed heavily to their emotional and psychological health as seeing a clergyman along with them for this fight made it sound like the right fight. Chaplains were a frontline resource and they were looked upon by all ranks on the field as their service, wisdom, and guidance were rigorously sound more than ever in the times of war.
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The Chaplain stands for all of that. It stands for hope, the very same hope that the chaplains on the frontlines were the embodiment of. It stands for valor, the very same valor exhibited by these chaplains on the frontlines that inspired men. And more than anything, it stands for the honor that our veterans so rightfully deserve.


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