thedrifter
12-25-07, 07:04 AM
Honoring fallen Marines
Planned memorial at Selfridge is for 22 who died serving in Iraq
December 25, 2007
BY JOE SWICKARD
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Rhonda Beeler can find comfort merely driving around her small community just outside Jackson.
"I've been really lucky," Beeler said last week, just a year and a day after she buried her son Brent. "Our little Napoleon put up a flagpole by the football field and they named a road for Brent. I don't know if other families have been so fortunate."
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Lance Cpl. Brent Beeler was one of 22 young men of the 1/24th Marine Reserves who died in action during their 2006-07 deployment to Iraq. The Marines and their families were chronicled by the Free Press as Michigan's Band of Brothers during their deployment.
The losses from the 1,100-member unit were about 2.5 times the average fatality rate for the Marines, the service that has taken the deepest losses in the Iraq war.
Now efforts are under way to create a memorial for the battalion's fallen Marines at its home quarters at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County.
"It is hoped to be something to honor the spirit of the Marines, the spirit of those who did not return and all the families," said Lt. Col. Mindy Herrmann. "We want something for everyone, a place for honor and reflection."
As envisioned, the estimated $100,000 memorial would be a bronze table with flanking benches. On the table would be plates engraved with the Marines' names. Flowing water and a small pool would be incorporated into the memorial. Also on the site would be a flagpole and a metal rendering of a helmet, rifle, dog tags and boots.
"It's a place where people can mourn their losses and the losses can be tangible and people can touch them," said design architect Nick Watkins, whose older brother Lt. Col. Christopher Watkins served with the 1/24th before the 2006-07 Band of Brothers deployment.
The image of a mess table recalls the camaraderie of the Marine Corps, and the personalized plates recognize the individual loss "and that, indeed, this was a person," Watkins said.
The proposed memorial is being designed by Watkins and Anna Ives, architects with Cannon Design in St. Louis. Watkins' doctoral thesis examined the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.
"Like the Vietnam memorial, we hope it engages each of the senses and beckons people to experience it," Herrmann said.
Ives said the design tries to unify the site with ramps and open areas: "We want this more than just an object in the middle of a field."
The design allows people to sit at the table, leave mementos or to quietly reflect.
Maj. Dan Whisnant, who led Alpha Company during the deployment, said memorials are a necessary bond between the troops and their communities, "honoring these guys and their families. These are people who sacrificed everything."
Alpha Company, based in Grand Rapids, is creating a memorial for its five men who died. The other four companies -- Bravo in Saginaw, Charlie in Lansing, Weapons in Perrysburg Township, Ohio, and Headquarters and Support at Selfridge -- also are considering memorials where they are based.
The memorial for the entire battalion is planned for an area just outside the Selfridge main gate so that it would be easily accessible to the public. This would eliminate the need for visitors to go through security checks to visit the memorial, but still keep it under observation by guards.
It is hoped that the setting will comfort and strengthen those who come.
"The goal, as I saw it, was to create a conceptual design for the memorial that fulfilled what users needed, not necessarily what they wanted," Watkins said. "Dealing and coping with loss is not always pleasant, but is necessary for growth."
Contact JOE SWICKARD at 313-222-8769 or jswickard@freepress.com.
Ellie
Planned memorial at Selfridge is for 22 who died serving in Iraq
December 25, 2007
BY JOE SWICKARD
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Rhonda Beeler can find comfort merely driving around her small community just outside Jackson.
"I've been really lucky," Beeler said last week, just a year and a day after she buried her son Brent. "Our little Napoleon put up a flagpole by the football field and they named a road for Brent. I don't know if other families have been so fortunate."
Advertisement
Lance Cpl. Brent Beeler was one of 22 young men of the 1/24th Marine Reserves who died in action during their 2006-07 deployment to Iraq. The Marines and their families were chronicled by the Free Press as Michigan's Band of Brothers during their deployment.
The losses from the 1,100-member unit were about 2.5 times the average fatality rate for the Marines, the service that has taken the deepest losses in the Iraq war.
Now efforts are under way to create a memorial for the battalion's fallen Marines at its home quarters at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County.
"It is hoped to be something to honor the spirit of the Marines, the spirit of those who did not return and all the families," said Lt. Col. Mindy Herrmann. "We want something for everyone, a place for honor and reflection."
As envisioned, the estimated $100,000 memorial would be a bronze table with flanking benches. On the table would be plates engraved with the Marines' names. Flowing water and a small pool would be incorporated into the memorial. Also on the site would be a flagpole and a metal rendering of a helmet, rifle, dog tags and boots.
"It's a place where people can mourn their losses and the losses can be tangible and people can touch them," said design architect Nick Watkins, whose older brother Lt. Col. Christopher Watkins served with the 1/24th before the 2006-07 Band of Brothers deployment.
The image of a mess table recalls the camaraderie of the Marine Corps, and the personalized plates recognize the individual loss "and that, indeed, this was a person," Watkins said.
The proposed memorial is being designed by Watkins and Anna Ives, architects with Cannon Design in St. Louis. Watkins' doctoral thesis examined the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.
"Like the Vietnam memorial, we hope it engages each of the senses and beckons people to experience it," Herrmann said.
Ives said the design tries to unify the site with ramps and open areas: "We want this more than just an object in the middle of a field."
The design allows people to sit at the table, leave mementos or to quietly reflect.
Maj. Dan Whisnant, who led Alpha Company during the deployment, said memorials are a necessary bond between the troops and their communities, "honoring these guys and their families. These are people who sacrificed everything."
Alpha Company, based in Grand Rapids, is creating a memorial for its five men who died. The other four companies -- Bravo in Saginaw, Charlie in Lansing, Weapons in Perrysburg Township, Ohio, and Headquarters and Support at Selfridge -- also are considering memorials where they are based.
The memorial for the entire battalion is planned for an area just outside the Selfridge main gate so that it would be easily accessible to the public. This would eliminate the need for visitors to go through security checks to visit the memorial, but still keep it under observation by guards.
It is hoped that the setting will comfort and strengthen those who come.
"The goal, as I saw it, was to create a conceptual design for the memorial that fulfilled what users needed, not necessarily what they wanted," Watkins said. "Dealing and coping with loss is not always pleasant, but is necessary for growth."
Contact JOE SWICKARD at 313-222-8769 or jswickard@freepress.com.
Ellie