Louis Nelson, an industrial designer who conceived a central element of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, drawing on his experiences as a peacetime Army officer and art student, when he encountered veterans of the Korean conflict, died on Dec. 4 in Manhattan. He was 88.
His death, at Mount Sinai Hospital, was caused by cancer discovered when he was hospitalized after a fall at his home several weeks ago, said his wife, the singer Judy Collins.
In a career of more than 50 years, Mr. Nelson was best known for his graphic design of the 164-foot mural wall at the Korean War Veterans Memorial, dedicated in 1995. The wall is a long expanse of gray granite with etched portraits of 2,400 military personnel who supported the combat troops in the Korean War, from 1950 to 1953.
The highly polished surface reflects the 19 statues of poncho-clad soldiers sculpted by Frank Gaylord facing the wall. Visitors passing between the wall and the nearly 8-foot-tall statues are led to a reflecting pool.
“The wall really holds it all together,” said Bernard S. Champoux, a vice-chair of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation and a retired general who commanded the U.S. Eighth Army in South Korea in peacetime. The mural “cleverly includes everybody,” he said, highlighting support personnel from different service branches.
In designing the mural for what is sometimes called “the forgotten war,” Mr. Nelson studied archival photos of Korean veterans who served “and silently came home,” he wrote in a memoir, “Mosaic: War Monument Mystery” (2021).
