A Marine Week mural rising just north of Scottsdale’s Civic Center Library will be unveiled at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The free, public event will include a tribute to Lance Cpl. Jacob Hug, a local Marine who lost his life during a Nepal earthquake relief efforts last May.
Marines painting the mural this week share the same military occupation as Hug, who served as a combat illustrator. Several of them knew the north Phoenix resident, who was one of six Marines who perished in a helicopter accident while delivering supplies to earthquake victims.
“Combat illustrators are a small military fraternity,” said Cpl. Scott Roguska, one the Marines painting the mural and a Scottsdale resident. “If you don’t know someone directly, you know of them.”
Roguska and his fellow Marines will help plant a tree in Hug’s honor at the conclusion of Saturday’s ceremony. The tree, and eventually a memorial plaque, will be placed on Scottsdale’s Civic Center Mall just a few hundred yards from the mural.
The mural project is a traditional highlight of Marine Week. Each year the service selects a metro area to host special events and activities, allowing the Marine Corps to connect with the public and showcase who they are and what they do for the nation.
The mural fills a large wall northwest of the library’s main first floor entrance at 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd. Scottsdale Public Art and the city worked with the Marines to find the location.
Saturday’s unveiling ceremony will feature Scottsdale and Marine leaders, plus the tribute to Lance Cpl. Hug, a graduate of Barry Goldwater High School in Phoenix.
The mural is just one of dozens of projects and activities conducted by the Marines around the Valley this week.
Other activities include exhibits, Marine Corps Band performances, martial art demonstrations and a Marine Air Ground Task Force demonstration before an Arizona Cardinals home game Sunday, Sept. 13.