Boeing Veterans Memorial Wall
Arlington, VA · Veterans Memorial Wall · Exterior · ~20ft × 10ft
The Finished Product
The Vision
Boeing wanted to honor the veterans among its workforce with a permanent, large-scale memorial wall at its Arlington, Virginia facility. Jen Lavender Thompson of Corporate Art Advisory, LLC — the art consultant managing Boeing’s corporate art program — brought ShieldCo in to design, fabricate, and install the piece.
The vision was ambitious: a monumental three-panel stainless steel wall, approximately 20 feet wide and 10 feet tall, mounted to the exterior of the building. The wall would feature raised stainless steel lettering across the top and over 625 individual “dog tag” plaques — each laser-cut, brushed, and engraved with a veteran employee’s name, branch of service, and years served.
The Challenge
This was no simple sign job. The project demanded precision fabrication at monumental scale — six panels of 304 stainless steel, each roughly 4 by 10 feet, with pressed PEM fasteners, custom framework, and on-site welding of seams that had to disappear. The underlying block wall was neither level nor perfectly aligned, so every measurement had to be taken from a single origin point and allowed to land where it landed, rather than trying to force a laser-cut rectangle onto an imperfect surface.
Beyond fabrication, Boeing’s security requirements added layers of complexity. Every crew member needed to be vetted — full legal names, dates of birth, citizenship status, and foreign interest declarations were required just to work on the exterior of the building. A sign permit had to navigate Arlington County’s review process, taking weeks of back-and-forth before finally being approved. The team coordinated with Gelberg Signs for permitting, JLL for building management, and Boeing’s own Global Real Estate & Facilities department — all while keeping the project on schedule for a formal unveiling ceremony.
The Process
The Result
ShieldCo fabricated all six stainless steel panels and 625+ individual dog tag plaques at their Frederick, Maryland shop, testing panel alignment before transporting everything to Arlington. The installation was executed over a long weekend in late April 2025 with a crew of eight from ShieldCo plus three from Gelberg Signs.
Day one saw all six panels mounted to the wall. Day two — a Saturday chosen to minimize foot traffic — was dedicated to welding the vertical seam between the top panels and the visible horizontal seams on the lower panels, followed by sanding and finishing. Day three completed the installation of all 625 dog tag plaques.
The wall was formally unveiled on May 8, 2025, with Boeing leadership and veteran employees in attendance. The partnership with ShieldCo has continued — Boeing later commissioned additional dog tag plaques for new veteran employees, and ShieldCo established an ongoing maintenance relationship with twice-yearly visits to keep the memorial in pristine condition.
“It is truly an amazing work of art and can’t believe it’s finally up! Thank you both again for all your hard work getting this project finally done. We are so proud of it and so thankful for such a great partnership with ShieldCo.”
Jen Lavender Thompson, Corporate Art Advisory