Massive Union Pacific intermodal flies through Holden, MO past the WWI US Flag and US Soldier mural

In the late 2010s Robert Vollrath began painting military themed murals around the city of Holden for two reasons; to honor local Veterans and to lure Amtrak into again including Holden as a stop along the Missouri River Runner route from Kansas City to Saint Louis. Depicted on the east face of the Tamridge House Hotel is John Lewis Barkley standing in a poppy field with a 45 foot tall 1918 version of Old Glory in the background. Barkley, a Holden local, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in October 1918 near Cunel, France where he single-handedly fended off several hundred German attackers. Along with the CMH, Barkley also received five other medals for bravery from Allied nations. Though Vollrath may have not yet succeeded in bringing an Amtrak stop to Holden, he certainly succeeded in honoring the memory and heroism of a Holden local.

https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2019-02-01/this-artist-paints-murals-of-soldiers-in-hopes-that-trains-will-stop-again-in-holden-missouri

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/arts/2018-11-12/the-wwi-hero-from-missouri-you-dont-know-but-no-hard-feelings#stream/0