Generally perceived as quiet and reserved, Tom Seematter is the type of person that would normally fade into the background. But the removal of his artwork from a Missouri Capitol gallery has led to a crusade to find a permanent home for the piece, and inspired legislation honoring those who served in the Vietnam War.
An Army veteran who served during Vietnam, Seematter, 68, of Annapolis, Mo., is a self-taught artist who created a drawing of the Vietnam War Memorial.
The artwork, which was completed in 1989, "comes from the heart and soul of Vietnam veterans," Seematter said, and represents the homecoming he and fellow servicemembers did not receive upon their return from the war.
"I will never invest that much of myself in ....