A mural of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen outside the Vanessa Gate at Fort Cavazos in Killeen, Texas, in October 2020. (Rose Thayer/Stars and Stripes)
A national civil rights organization is raising funds to restore a Texas mural for Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen and add a mural to Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Caserta.
Their deaths in 2020 and 2018, respectively, led Congress to reform Defense Department policies on sexual harassment and access to mental health care in the military.
The mural, a memorial to Guillen at the Vanessa Gate of Fort Cavazos in Killeen, Texas, was the site of protests seeking answers to Guillen’s disappearance and death. Guillen was reported missing from Fort Hood, now Cavazos, in April 2020; her remains were found June 30, 2020.
Today the mural, dedicated in July 2020, is fading in the Texas heat and rain. It’s been defaced by graffiti three times, according to the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The league recently began a GoFundMe campaign, “Vandalized Vanessa Guillen Mural Needs Our Help!” to restore Guillen’s mural and add a mural dedicated to Caserta.
The campaign has raised $920 of its $10,000 goal as of Friday, according to its GoFundMe page.
The donations will purchase materials, including nails, wood glue, stain sealant, sandpaper and brushes, AnaLuisa Carrillo-Tapia, a Killeen resident and director of Texas District 17 for the league, told Stars and Stripes by phone June 24.
Remaining funds will go to the Brandon Caserta Foundation.
“The murals connect through the care and concerns that our community has for our service members,” she said.
The I Am Vanessa Guillen Act took effect Jan. 1, 2022. It criminalizes sexual harassment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and removes commanders from sexual assault and sexual harassment investigations.
Months before her murder, Guillen reported being sexually harassed by a senior noncommissioned officer, but leaders in her chain of command failed to take appropriate action.
Castera died by suicide June 25, 2018, at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. A command investigation found that a combative and toxic leadership contributed to his death.
Two months later, his parents, Teri and Patrick Castera, started an uphill push by phone calls and trips to the Pentagon to pass the Brandon Act, a set of policies that provide service members with a confidential evaluation and greater access to mental health care.
In July, the Navy and Marine Corps became the first service branches to implement the act.
“And the two acts together are the largest reform of the military since ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell,’ by far,” Patrick Castera told Stars and Stripes by phone June 24. “When you pair the two together, it is a significant milestone in history. What is unique about it is we the people did it. These acts are helping our service members.”
Money raised by the GoFundMe campaign will also pay for enhanced security measures to deter vandalism, Carillo-Tapia said. That includes higher quality security cameras installed near the mural.
The league wanted to start work on the new mural on the anniversary of Castera’s death but were unable to do so, Carillo-Tapia said.
“It’s tough, it’s going to be tough,” Patrick Castera said about the anniversary of Brandon’s death. “It was a tough loss; he is our only son, and [we] will never have grandkids and the command is definitely at fault.”
The Casteras said they were honored that the league thought to add Brandon to the mural.
“It will give people hope and awareness as they drive in and out of the gate if they’re in the military or having any issues they can invoke the Brandon Act and that help is there for them, and it’s their right,” Patrick Castera said.
