Seabees Memorial

Last updated
Seabees Memorial
Seabee Memorial - looking N - Arlington National Cemetery - 2011.JPG
The memorial in 2011
USA Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Virginia
Location Arlington, Virginia, United States
Designer Felix de Weldon

The Seabees Memorial is a sculpture and memorial to Seabees by Felix de Weldon, installed along Memorial Drive near the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery. [1] It is administered by the National Park Service as part of George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington, Virginia. [2]

Seabee member of the United States Naval Construction Forces

United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). Their nickname is a heterograph of the initials "C.B." from the words Construction Battalion. Depending upon how the word is used "Seabee" can refer to one of three things: all the enlisted personnel in the USN's occupational field 7 (OF-7), all officers and enlisted assigned to the Naval Construction Force (NCF), or the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalions (CBs). Seabees also serve outside the NCF. During WWII Seabees served in both the Naval Combat Demolition Units and the Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) as well as Cubs, Lions, Acorns and the United States Marine Corps. Today they can be found in many special task assignments, including the Naval Support Unit – Department of State, Camp David, many base Public Works, under both Commanders of the Naval Surface Forces Atlantic/Pacific fleets and USN diving commands.

Felix de Weldon American sculptor

Felix Weihs de Weldon was an Austrian-born American sculptor. His most famous pieces include the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia and the Malaysian National Monument (1966) in Kuala Lumpur.

Arlington National Cemetery Military cemetery in the United States

Arlington National Cemetery is a United States military cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., in whose 624 acres (253 ha) the dead of the nation's conflicts have been buried, beginning with the Civil War, as well as reinterred dead from earlier wars. The United States Department of the Army, a component of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), controls the cemetery.

Contents

Congress authorized the placement of a memorial on public land by the Seabee Memorial Association in September 1972. [3] It was dedicated on Memorial Day 1974. [4]

Description

The memorial features panels depicting Seabee missions since 1942. According to the CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation, the bronze [2] figure at the center of the memorial depicts a "bare-chested, muscular SEABEE, rifle slung over one shoulder, offering a helping hand to a small child." [5]

Gold-colored inscriptions above and below the panels read "SEABEES CAN DO" and "With willing hearts and skillful hands, the difficult we do at once. The impossible takes a bit longer!", respectively. [5] The base which supports the figure sculpture is the inscribed text: "With compassion for others / we build – we fight / for peace with freedom". [5]

See also

United States Navy Memorial memorial in Washington, D.C.

The United States Navy Memorial, on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 7th Street Northwest and 9th Street Northwest in Washington, D.C., honors those who have served or are currently serving in the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and the Merchant Marine.

Related Research Articles

Marine Corps War Memorial architectural structure

The United States Marine Corps War Memorial is a national memorial located in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. Dedicated in 1954, it is located in Arlington Ridge Park with George Washington Memorial Parkway, near the Ord-Weitzel Gate to Arlington National Cemetery and the Netherlands Carillon. The war memorial is dedicated to all U.S. Marine Corps personnel who died in the defense of the United States since 1775.

Robert Stethem Recipient of the Purple Heart medal

Robert Dean Stethem was a United States Navy Seabee diver who was murdered by Hezbollah terrorists during the hijacking of the commercial airliner he was aboard, TWA Flight 847. At the time of his death, his Navy rating was Steelworker Second Class (SW2). He was posthumously promoted to Master Chief Constructionman (CUCM).

James Earle Fraser (sculptor) American artist

James Earle Fraser was an American sculptor during the first half of the 20th century. His work is integral to many of Washington, D.C.'s most iconic structures.

Hains Point

Hains Point is located at the southern tip of East Potomac Park between the main branch of the Potomac River and the Washington Channel in southwest Washington, D.C. The land on which the park is located is sometimes described as a peninsula but is actually an island: the Washington Channel connects with the Tidal Basin north of the park and the Jefferson Memorial. The island is artificial: it was built up from Potomac dredging material from 1880 to 1892.

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial 28-acre estate in Virginia operated by the U.S. National Park Service

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, formerly named the Custis-Lee Mansion, is a Greek revival style mansion located in Arlington, Virginia, United States that was once the home of Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee. It overlooks the Potomac River and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. During the American Civil War, the grounds of the mansion were selected as the site of Arlington National Cemetery, in part to ensure that Lee would never again be able to return to his home. The United States has since designated the mansion as a National Memorial. Although the United States Department of the Army controls Arlington National Cemetery, the National Park Service, a component of the United States Department of the Interior, administers Arlington House.

Mount Vernon Trail

The Mount Vernon Trail (MVT) is a 17 miles (27 km) long paved bicycle and pedestrian path in Northern Virginia between Rosslyn and George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. The trail connects the easternmost portions of Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, and Fairfax County, and travels mostly on dedicated trail with a small portion on city streets. As part of U.S. Bike Route 1, the MVT opened in April 1972 as a gravel path and was subsequently expanded and paved.

Women in Military Service for America Memorial

The Women in Military Service for America Memorial (WIMSA) is a memorial established by the U.S. federal government which honors women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. The memorial is located at the western end of Memorial Avenue at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. The structure in which the memorial is housed was originally known as the Hemicycle, and built in 1932 to be a ceremonial entrance to the cemetery. It never served this purpose, and was in disrepair by 1986. Congress approved the WIMSA memorial in 1985, and the Hemicycle approved as the site for the memorial in 1988. An open design competition was won by New York City architects Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi. Their original design was leaked to the public, and caused significant controversy. Two years of fund-raising and design revision followed. A revised preliminary design was approved in July 1992, and the final design in March 1995. Ground was broken for the memorial in June 1995, and the structure dedicated on October 18, 1997.

Pentagon Memorial historic site

The Pentagon Memorial, located just southwest of The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, is a permanent outdoor memorial to the 184 people who died as victims in the building and on American Airlines Flight 77 during the September 11 attacks.

Gravelly Point cape in Virginia, United States of America

Gravelly Point is an area within the National Park Service's George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. It is located on the west side of the Potomac River, north of Roaches Run and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Four Mile Run stream in Virginia

Four Mile Run is a 9.4-mile-long (15.1 km) stream in Northern Virginia that starts near Interstate 66, at Gordon Avenue in Fairfax County and proceeds southeast through Falls Church to Arlington County in the U.S. state of Virginia. Most of the stretch is parkland and is paralleled by two paved non-motorized transport and recreational trails, the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail and the Four Mile Run Trail.

Custis Trail

The Custis Trail is a hilly, 4 mi (6.4 km) paved bicycle trail in Arlington County, Virginia that extends from Key Bridge at Rosslyn westward to the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail in the Dominion Hills neighborhood.

United States Air Force Memorial

The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its heritage organizations. The Memorial is located in Arlington County, Virginia, on the grounds of Fort Myer near The Pentagon, and adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery, towards intersection of Columbia Pike and South Joyce Street. It was the last project of American architect James Ingo Freed with the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners for the United States Air Force Memorial Foundation.

Northern Virginia trolleys

The earliest electric railway, or streetcar line, in Northern Virginia opened in 1892. At their peak, when merged into a single interurban system, the successors of this and several other lines ran between downtown Washington, D.C., Rosslyn and Arlington Junction – in present-day Crystal City – and out to Mount Vernon, Fairfax City and Nauck. Electric trolleys also went west from Georgetown and Rosslyn on the Washington and Old Dominion Railway's (W&OD's) Bluemont Division via Leesburg to the town of Bluemont at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In addition, electric trolleys of the W&OD's Great Falls Division traveled from Georgetown and Rosslyn via Cherrydale and McLean to Great Falls Park. Despite early success, the streetcars were unable to compete with the automobile and with each other, and, plagued with management and financial problems, ceased operations in the 1930s and 1940s.

Gulf Branch stream located in Arlington County, Virginia

Gulf Branch is a stream in Arlington County, Virginia. From its source southwest of the Gulf Branch Nature Center, Gulf Branch flows on a northeastern course and empties into the Potomac River within the Federal parklands of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Gulf Branch is surrounded predominantly by forests.

Windy Run

Windy Run is a small stream in Arlington County, Virginia. From its source near Lorcom Lane, Windy Run flows on a northeastern course and empties into the Potomac River within the Federal parklands of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Windy Run is surrounded predominantly by forests. It is known by many of the Arlington locals as simply "The Falls".

Kauffmann Memorial artwork by William Ordway Partridge

Kauffmann Memorial is a public artwork by American artist William Ordway Partridge, located at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C., United States. Kauffmann Memorial was originally surveyed as part of the Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture! survey in 1993. The memorial is a tribute and grave for the former owner of the Washington Star, Samuel Kauffmann.

Navy Annex

The Navy Annex was a building near the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia mainly used as offices for the United States Department of the Navy. The facility was also known as Federal Office Building 2. It was demolished in 2013 to make room for an expansion of Arlington National Cemetery and other uses.

References

  1. "Memorial Avenue". www.arlingtoncemetery.mil. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  2. 1 2 "Seabees Memorial, (sculpture) | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution". collections.si.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  3. "Public Law 92–422". US House of Representatives.
  4. Lacano, Julius (2018-03-05). "A Memorial to those that "CAN DO!"". U.S. Navy Seabee Museum. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  5. 1 2 3 "National Seabee Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia". CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation. Retrieved April 8, 2019.

Coordinates: 38°53′06″N77°03′45″W / 38.88498°N 77.06263°W / 38.88498; -77.06263