Brig. Gen. Rory Crooks, Deputy Commanding General of the 1st Armored Division, addressed attendees at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 19, 2025, for the newly restored mural by artist Rudolph Charles von Ripper. Speaking to the audience, Crooks emphasized the importance of preserving the historical artwork. The mural, located at the site of the old William Beaumont Army Medical Center, was painted during World War II and has undergone extensive restoration efforts.

Brig. Gen. Rory Crooks, Deputy Commanding General of the 1st Armored Division, compared the newly restored mural by artist Rudolph Charles von Ripper with a photograph showing its condition prior to restoration at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 19, 2025. The mural, painted during World War II, is located at the site of the old William Beaumont Army Medical Center and has undergone extensive preservation efforts.

Fort Bliss Garrison commander Col. Brendan Gallagher, 1st Armored Division Deputy Commanding General Brig. Gen. Rory Crooks and former 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss Museum Director Lt. Col. (Ret.) John Hamilton cut the ribbon at the unveiling of the newly restored mural by artist Rudolph Charles von Ripper on July 19, 2025. The mural, located at the old William Beaumont Army Medical Center site in Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, was painted during World War II and underwent significant conservation efforts due to its original poor condition and the artist's unique painting method.

EL PASO, Texas – Members of the Fort Bliss Army Garrison and the El Paso community celebrated the restoration of Rudolph Charles von Ripper’s World War II era mural in a building on the grounds of the El Paso Veteran Affairs Hospital on July 18.

Von Ripper, who joined the Army in 1942 and was stationed at the old William Beaumont General Hospital as a hospital laboratory technician, painted a mural in what was then the hospital library in 1943. In 1994, as the building aged, the mural was covered up with plastic and sealed behind a layer of drywall to preserve it as best as possible. It was subsequently forgotten until the Fort Bliss Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Historic Architecture Program rediscovered it in 2013 and fully removed the layer of drywall in 2015.

Once the protective plastic and drywall were removed, the preservation process began in earnest, with a team of experts painstakingly working to flatten and re-adhere peeling and curling sections of the mural back to the surface of the wall. Next came a detailed digital scanning process, which used a technique known as “structure-from-motion photogrammetry” to create a 3-D image of the mural that helped the preservationists determine exactly how the original mural had looked when it was completed in 1943.

“This [restoration] marks over a half century of contributions by so many people that includes librarians, architects, preservationists, art conservators, community members, all of whom believed that this was piece worth saving,” said Fort Bliss Garrison Commander Col. Brendan Gallagher. Indeed, it took the active participation of Fort Bliss DPW, the City of El Paso, and even the efforts of Rep. Veronica Escobar all working together to return von Ripper’s art to its former glory.

As fantastic as the story of the restoration of the mural is, it pales in comparison to von Ripper’s life. During the ceremony, the former 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss Museum Director Lt. Col. (Ret.) John Hamilton recounted how von Ripper was born in 1905 in Austria to a noble family, grew up in Europe, and studied art at the Dusseldorf Academy. Von Ripper’s studies of art, and later film, took him to Asia and then back to Europe in the 1930s. In repose to the rise of fascism in Europe, von Ripper published a series of political cartoons that caused the Nazi regime to detain and torture him until the Austrian Government procured his release. After which, von Ripper moved to Spain, fought on the side of the Republican Forces in the Spanish Civil war, was smuggled out of Europe to New York and Connecticut where he established himself in the local art scene. He became and naturalized U.S. citizen in 1938.

Von Ripper would go on to serve honorably in the U.S. Army during World War II in many unique capacities. Being a native German speaker, he was recruited to the Office of Special Services (the precursor to the CIA); and, being an artist, he also served with the U.S. Army Engineer’s War Art Unit. Coincidentally, his efforts in the Italian Campaign put him both along aside and eventually in front of the 1st Armored Division’s advance to Rome.

Von Ripper’s time in El Paso, when he painted the mural, seems to have been formative for his perspective on America.

“What is great about this art and the view that he had of America is that a lot of it was shaped by his experience in El Paso,” said Brig. Gen. Rory Crooks, the 1st Armored Division Deputy Commanding General for Operations. “And it still resonates today in that experience of community and the military.” Brig. Gen. Crooks went on to note how von Ripper’s art reflects the dual aspects of community and military in the way his art depicted the peaceful El Paso scenery but also “didn’t maintain the artist’s distance [from war]” when the time came.

In the end, restoring von Ripper’s mural and revisiting the story of his life and service “helps us reflect on and celebrate our patriotism, honor our past, and facilitate cross generational connection,” said Col. Gallagher. Given the complex process and the many different entities that it took to restore von Ripper’s mural, this ribbon cutting also represents the deep bond and partnership between Fort Bliss and the El Paso community.

For more information contact the 1st Armored Division Public Affairs Office at 915-744-8406 or usarmy.bliss.1-ad.mbx.1ad-public-affairs@army.mil.