Fred DeFinis has quite an amazing story to tell.
DeFinis, a U.S. Air Force veteran of World War II, was shot down over Germany in 1943 and spent 13 months as a prisoner of war in Frankfurt before escaping and finding refuge with a British infantry unit.
"They almost killed him," his son, Fred DeFinis Jr., said Thursday night in the tunnel that connects the eastbound and westbound platforms of the South Norwalk train station. "He didn't have any tags. They didn't know who he was."
DeFinis Jr. said his father, now 88 and living in his hometown of Norwalk, didn't receive the medals he was due for his service, such as the Purple Heart, because the military lost his records. But DeFinis Jr. said he was eventually able to get his father a POW medal.
The older DeFinis doesn't talk publicly about his time in the war and didn't care that he didn't get medals he was due -- he prefers anonymity.
But Thursday night's grand opening of an art project at the SoNo train station sheds some light on DeFinis' service in the war, but in a way that preserves his anonymity to the thousands of commuters who walk through the tunnel every day.
DeFinis was the inspiration behind one of 55 faceless silhouettes, made from high-density fiber board, on the walls of the tunnel that were created by Duvian Montoya, 36, of Easton, a longtime Norwalk resident who was one of four artists selected to enliven the historic station through visual arts.
The older DeFinis saw his silhouette, based on a photograph of him in England before he became a POW, for the first time Thursday night, along with the 54 other silhouettes that feature men and women of Norwalk from the 1860s -- when the train station was built -- to the present day.
"You deserve a citation for the job you did," DeFinis Sr. said to Montoya before city and Norwalk Parking Authority officials celebrated Montoya's creation, along with a separate project on the New Haven-bound side by artists David Boyajian, Matt Rink and Vincent Appel.
Michael Dustin, 35, of Norwalk, the older DeFinis' grandson, said he cut out nearly all of the silhouettes for the project.
He decided to ask Montoya if he wanted a photo of DeFinis Sr. after learning Montoya was going to include a silhouette representing each war.
"I think he did a great job on all of them," Dustin said.
Observant people who walk through the tunnels will be able learn some history associated with each silhouette. Each one features a QR code that people can scan with their iPhone cameras. Once scanned, they will be directed to a brief history describing each silhouette on Montoya's website, www.duvianmontoya.com/silo. People without the cell phone application can visit the website directly.
Montoya created depth for the figures, which are painted in bright colors and "walking" in either direction in the tunnel, by varying their sizes.
"Once there are people walking through, it really does come alive," he said. "For the most part, people are definitely excited about the project, that it brought a lot of life to the train station, especially the tunnel."
The silhouettes are faceless so passersby can "see themselves in these figures" through a childhood memory or connection to a time period, Montoya said. The city's former hat and oyster industries are included in the silhouettes, along with Hungarian and Asian immigrants, World War I veterans, and the popular break-dancers of Montoya's childhood.
"I remember that very visually and hope people remember that as they walk by," he said.
A silhouette featuring a Colombian immigrant is based upon Montoya's father and other immigrants from that country who came to Norwalk in the 1960s and worked in the city's then-flourishing factories.
Bob Albert, 32, of Norwalk, who was walking through the tunnel Thursday evening, said he liked the silhouettes.
"I think it's a good addition, to add art to people's everyday life in transit, and it's something you can remember on your way to your destination," he said. "It's good that Norwalk embraces the arts, ... Even in New York, they don't have anything like this in the subway stations."
During the ceremony, Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia said the art projects by Montoya, Boyajian, Rink and Appel were "the culmination of months of hard work" to "improve our quality of life" and connect past and present.
The 17 "post cap sculptures" created from cast aluminum and sited by Boyajian, Rink and Appel also pay homage to Norwalk's past and include oysters, harbor seals, a hat, a buoy, seagulls, a fishing boat, sailboat, tugboat and delivery truck, Rink said.
"We came up with a really long list at first of different symbols and ideas and then chiseled them down to what we felt was most representative of Norwalk's identity," he said.
Boyajian and Rink sculpted the art and Appel said his role was to integrate their sculptures into the train station.
Hebert said the Parking Authority has an umbrella division called "Art in Parking Spaces," which covers both the train station and Maritime Center parking garage, where an exhibit called "The Senses of SoNo, Anatomy of a Bustling Hub" is on display.
The Yankee Doodle Garage on River Street may feature art in the future.
"It just makes it more appealing to the public," Hebert said. "You talk about thousands of people a day who come here. ... You want to make it appealing to the public.
"The bigger picture is to get people to come here -- to visit, to move here, and visit restaurants. It's important to invest in art and make your community cool and make it stand out."
She said the Parking Authority had upgraded the SoNo Railroad Station through structural repairs, technology and a cafe, and that she was "very happy" with the art work in the train station, adding that it was permanent.
While the art work celebrated Thursday night is permanent, Hebert said the Parking Authority may add temporary exhibits and have concerts in the train station.
"There's a lot you could do here," she said.
The art in the Maritime Center parking garage is temporary and the next exhibit will be installed in September, Hebert said.
The city also is undertaking a separate arts program that includes decorating windows on commercial buildings and traffic control boxes in South Norwalk. She said those projects, which fall under the Norwalk Arts Commission, are ongoing.
"We have such a vibrant arts community that needs to have a place to express their art," said state Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk.