Makeup Artists and Veterans

During World War II wounded Veterans were returning to the United States in record numbers, many with catastrophic injuries that required multiple surgeries with extensive recuperation periods. Others were left with physical scars as well as the emotional scars associated with disfigurement. The Medical Staffs of the Veteran Hospitals were pulling triple shifts just to keep up with the incoming flow of patients that continued to arrive by the plane load from the war theaters in Europe, Africa and Japan. As the war continued Veterans Hospitals counted on Volunteers more and more to tend to the non-medical needs of the patients, of course in the United States as in the rest of the World, the civilian population responded and volunteered to help in whatever way they could with whatever skills they had to offer to ease the pain of the wounded military personnel. Volunteers responded by reading to and writing for the wounded who were unable to read or write because of their injuries, a vital necessity for the wounded to keep in touch with their families. Volunteers helped in any way they could to ease the healing process for the injured returning Veterans.

The Medical Staffs of the Veterans Hospitals were using the best medical techniques that they could to heal the wounded in their care. The physical challenges were significant enough, unfortunately they were not the only challenges in restoring the wounded to health. The returning Veterans whether injured or not were retuning home with the mental scars from the savageries that they encountered in war. The injured Veterans also had the burden of physiological and psychological scars. The Medical Staff constantly under pressure with the sheer volume of injuries did not always have the appropriate time to help the permanently scarred and physically disfigured with their transition back into society. Psychologist and Psychiatrists were at a premium in the Veterans Health System with the enormous volume of injured soldiers whose physical injuries often led to psychological trauma at the sight of their own faces that were disfigured by their wounds.

Everyone on the home front helped in any way they could. The Entertainment Industry became the morale of the troops through the USO which brought entertainment and a taste of home to military personal both home and abroad. The stars of the era used their skills as entertainers and performers to bring a semblance of sanity to a world that was engulfed in the insanity of war. All the Professions and Craftsmen that comprise the Entertainment Industry were utilized to bring entertainment to those that were serving and those that were recovering at home. The Directors, Producers, Choreographers, Musicians, Cameramen, Sound Technicians, and Set Builders all pitched in to bring the best that Hollywood and Broadway had to offer to the troops around the world.

Back home a special skill set that evolved out of the Entertainment Industry became a vital skill in helping to ease the psychically dismembered and psychologically scarred that were recuperating at the Veterans Hospitals around the world. Men like Mehron Melik, who were on the cutting edge of the Makeup Industry saw the opportunity to use their skills. Mehron packed his bag of Makeup and spent his days at Veterans Hospitals on the East Coast showing disfigured Veterans how to use cosmetics to cover the scars and disfigurements that they so detested. One of the magic skills of the Entertainment Industry, Makeup, soon took on a new life at the Veterans Hospitals around the World. The injured and disabled learned from men like Mehron how to apply Makeup to cover the physical ravages of war which in turn gave these Veterans the morale boost they needed to get out and reenter society. Mehron used his Makeup to encourage injured men who didn't want their family to see them, the courage to see them again. Those whose disfigurements would be erased by multiple plastic surgeries were taught to apply Makeup in between surgeries as a transitional tool. Mr. Melik spent years visiting Veterans Hospitals donating his time, skill and Makeup in service to the injured who served their Country.

World War II seems like an eternity to most of us alive today as the last of this Generation is being lost to time, but the lessons remain. Mehron Melik was a forefather of the Makeup Industry that now dominates the Entertainment Industry, he was there through the days of Vaudeville, Burlesque, Silent Films, Talking Films, Technicolor, Television, Color Television and Music Videos. He founded a company by hand making Makeup, and he used those hands to help those in need of his expertise. Mr. Mehron Melik is an example of the unselfish sharing of his skills.

Makeup Artists around the world who wonder what you can contribute when called upon, the answer is easy! Your skill, your artistry, your magical touch are what you can contribute, not only to those injured in war, but also to those touched by tragedy and accidents. The artistry that lies in your hands can change the day for a wounded Veteran, a child disfigured by accident or a warrior battling cancer. The gift in your hands, your ability to envision, your command of texture and color can change a person's life, turning a dreaded day into new beginning. The tools that you use every day to enhance beauty, design body art, create characters, and magically transform one look to another are the tools that are needed to change another person's life in a time of need.

Note to Veterans and Their Families: Mehron Makeup was founded in 1927 and has continuously operated since then, due to corporate moves and damaged archives, Mehron Makeup no longer has any photographic records of Mehron Melik at Veterans Hospitals. If any Veteran or Veteran's Family has any photograph of Mehron Melik working with wounded Veterans, Mehron would like to rebuild the Company Archives and ask that you would consider sharing these photographs with the world through Mehron. As the Greatest Generation leaves us behind, many families will be cleaning out buried treasures stored away by parents and grandparents. If you should come upon any correspondence or photograph referencing the work of Mehron Melik or any Makeup Artist with Veterans, please consider preserving that history by sharing it with the Mehron Archives. Many prominent Makeup Artists volunteered at Veterans Hospitals using their skills in the same way that Mr. Melik used his. We know that Jack Dawn, the Makeup Artist for the Wizard of Oz, and a fixture at the MGM Makeup Department spent countless hours at Veteran Hospitals in the San Diego area. Any documentation concerning Makeup Artists and Veterans that can be preserved, Mehron would like to preserve this historical record. You may email the Mehron Blog , or send mail or packages to: Mehron Archives, 100 Red Schoolhouse Road, Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977