Hollywood poster travels cross-country; comes home to local designer
BEDFORD, Massachusetts—Movie and television producers sometimes play fast and loose with the accuracy of military and Veteran details in their productions.
This isn’t the case for the TV show “This is Us,” at least for episode “Songbird Road (Part 2),” originally aired Feb. 12, 2019, on NBC.
Jeanette Mendy, Deputy Director of VA’s National Veterans Outreach Office was watching the show and caught a glimpse of the then-current 2019 Veterans Day poster in a scene in a Vet Center.
“I learned the consultant [for the show] is a Veteran who is knowledgeable about Vet Centers and VA, and he got the poster for the wall in the waiting room in the scene,” Mendy said.
Mendy’s office coordinates the annual Veterans Day poster contest. The poster in question was designed by VA employee Teresa Harrington, a member of the Center for Development and Civic Engagement at VA Bedford Healthcare System in Bedford, Massachusetts.
“I don't consider myself an artist,” Harrington said in earlier interviews. “I was looking to honor my father's service - some of which is documented in the (secret) journal pictured in my poster. I held on to that journal all these years wondering how I would share it. Finally, I decided the best way to do so was through this contest.”
The consultant suggested getting the poster signed by the cast of the show for presentation to Harrington, and then the studios shut down due to COVID. Mendy stayed in touch with the consultant and more than two years later, the poster was delivered.
Finally on the east coast, Mendy had the signed poster framed, and Meg Kabat, the Secretary’s Senior Advisor for Families, Caregivers, and Survivors, volunteered to travel to Bedford to present it.
“I’m not sure people realize the multi-generational impact VA has when it comes to dedication to Veterans,” Kabat said. “About a third of our workforce is Veterans, but at least another third is family members of Veterans.”
Harrington, in turn, pinned Kabat with a replica of the poster in miniature.
“I find joy in the positive reception my poster received locally as well as nationally. I am honored to be chosen and I'm sure my dad is honored as well.”
Harrington’s poster appears in multiple episodes on the show, which airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC.