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QUINCY, ILL. -- The Quincy Mall unveiled an 8-part mural Saturday, honoring some very important men and women, and you may know the artists.

"Myself, as a veteran, every time I get a little 'thank you,' or any time of gratitude or show of appreciation it means a lot to me," Sgt. David Krum, with the U.S. Army said.

Krum wanted to make sure other veterans feel that way too, so he came up with an idea to pay forward the appreciation he's received.

"We talked about this long hall way, It's open and I told her I have the perfect idea for it," Krum said.

"I think we need to give back and thank them for the freedoms we have today," Kim Minnick, Quincy Mall property manager said. "Freedom of choice ... you have all kinds of shopping choices here. It was a perfect fit."

Krum teamed up with the Quincy Mall to dedicate a wall to all veterans. Once he found the space, he began looking for something to put there.

"They can look at the mural and know that we are thinking of them and we do respect them, and there's always going to be a place for them here," Emily Doane, senior at Quincy Notre Dame and mural artist said.

Quincy Notre Dame was one of eight high schools that donated a mural to the wall, as well as Quincy, Liberty, Canton, Central, Western and Warsaw High Schools.

It took Doane's art class almost three weeks to finish theirs, but for Doane, the time was worth it.

"They're part of our history, they basically make us who we are today and we are America because of them," Doane said. "All the things we have, we owe to them."

"I know how other veterans feel," Krum said. "So to have something up that they can see where people don't forget about them, I know it will reflect a lot of meaning back to them."