GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An ArtPrize piece featured on the southeast side of Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Grand Rapids is a collage of decades-old envelopes, postcards and stamps. What it represents for veterans is priceless.

“I had a saying when I was on active duty that I liked mail call better than pay call,” remembered artist Leon Alderman, a retired Naval officer. “Because you're gone. You're gone for six months, eight months, nine months. And you want to hear over that loudspeaker, 'Mail call' because you're anticipating getting a letter from a loved one or a friend.”

From 1973 to 1993, Alderman served in the military in many different places like the Mediterranean, North Sea and Japan, where he met his wife Pamela. During his time in the military, Alderman enjoyed learni

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