thedrifter
02-25-08, 04:35 PM
Group honoring Navy corpsmen with memorial
BY HEATHER GALE
2008-02-25 12:03:00
THE DAILY NEWS
http://images.onset.freedom.com/jdn/1203959821-224a1marinesmemorialto.jpg
Corpsmen, Marines say, have their back. Now the Marines are returning the favor.
To celebrate the unique and close bond between Marines and their corpsmen — and in conjunction with the upcoming Museum of the Marine — a memorial to the sea service rating is in the works.
The Marines’ Memorial to the Navy Corpsmen is dedicated to all the corpsmen who served in all wars with the Marines. The group that is heading up the work on the project, slated to start in November, is also named the Marines’ Memorial to the Navy Corpsmen.
John Michael Moore, chairman of the group, met with members Wednesday night to initiate the process of building the memorial and to show a picture of what the memorial will look like.
The memorial will be located within the site of the planned Museum of the Marine, Moore said.
“When the piece is finally completed, there will be an eternal flame, seats and a virtual memorial,” Moore said. “(The group) is honoring the corps, the community and the county.”
The entire project is expected to be completed in less than four years from the start date.
“The bronze statues have already been cast, and the stone has been donated,” said Verl Matthews, a participant in the group. “One statue will be looking at the Beirut Memorial and another will look at the future Vietnam memorial.”
Within the bronze sculpture, Moore said, will be a recording of what it sounded like on the battlefield.
“We want people to experience the reality of the moment,” he said.
The virtual memorial will give a real picture of what a corpsman is and what they do in their field, Moore said. The virtual memorial will also be available online and at four remembrance sites around the country.
“We could go with just a statue and silent memorial,” Moore said. “But, when you have a 73-year-old woman whose son was killed years ago, we need to be able to go to her.”
One specific item the group wants people to know is that they are honoring all corpsmen, not only the ones who were in battle.
“Some of the corpsmen spent their time in the labs or on ships,” Moore said. “We want to honor all corpsmen that worked with the Marines in one way or another.”
The U.S. Navy corpsmen’s relationship with the Fleet Marine Forces goes back more than 110 years — since the first corpsmen landed with the Marine Expeditionary Unit at Guantanamo, Cuba, Matthews said.
“The Jacksonville area is home of one of the two commands that trained corpsmen for duty with the Marines since 1950,” Matthews said. “A memorial is long overdue.”
John Crazy Bear initiated the idea to create the memorial.
“You will find Navy corpsmen anywhere there are Marines, wherever they fight, wherever they live; they have been and today still are in the field with our Marines — side by side,” Crazy Bear wrote in a Daily News letter to the editor. “Such a memorial would be a place of honor for all to visit.”
The Marines’ Memorial to the Navy Corpsmen group is working to complete the paperwork to become a nonprofit organization under the Museum of the Marine.
The memorial will be near the existing Beirut Memorial and the 9/11 Memorial, across from the Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery.
“When a family of a corpsman walks out to the memorial, we want them to be able to walk out with honor and integrity,” Moore said.
Contact Heather Gale at hgale@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8464.
BY HEATHER GALE
2008-02-25 12:03:00
THE DAILY NEWS
http://images.onset.freedom.com/jdn/1203959821-224a1marinesmemorialto.jpg
Corpsmen, Marines say, have their back. Now the Marines are returning the favor.
To celebrate the unique and close bond between Marines and their corpsmen — and in conjunction with the upcoming Museum of the Marine — a memorial to the sea service rating is in the works.
The Marines’ Memorial to the Navy Corpsmen is dedicated to all the corpsmen who served in all wars with the Marines. The group that is heading up the work on the project, slated to start in November, is also named the Marines’ Memorial to the Navy Corpsmen.
John Michael Moore, chairman of the group, met with members Wednesday night to initiate the process of building the memorial and to show a picture of what the memorial will look like.
The memorial will be located within the site of the planned Museum of the Marine, Moore said.
“When the piece is finally completed, there will be an eternal flame, seats and a virtual memorial,” Moore said. “(The group) is honoring the corps, the community and the county.”
The entire project is expected to be completed in less than four years from the start date.
“The bronze statues have already been cast, and the stone has been donated,” said Verl Matthews, a participant in the group. “One statue will be looking at the Beirut Memorial and another will look at the future Vietnam memorial.”
Within the bronze sculpture, Moore said, will be a recording of what it sounded like on the battlefield.
“We want people to experience the reality of the moment,” he said.
The virtual memorial will give a real picture of what a corpsman is and what they do in their field, Moore said. The virtual memorial will also be available online and at four remembrance sites around the country.
“We could go with just a statue and silent memorial,” Moore said. “But, when you have a 73-year-old woman whose son was killed years ago, we need to be able to go to her.”
One specific item the group wants people to know is that they are honoring all corpsmen, not only the ones who were in battle.
“Some of the corpsmen spent their time in the labs or on ships,” Moore said. “We want to honor all corpsmen that worked with the Marines in one way or another.”
The U.S. Navy corpsmen’s relationship with the Fleet Marine Forces goes back more than 110 years — since the first corpsmen landed with the Marine Expeditionary Unit at Guantanamo, Cuba, Matthews said.
“The Jacksonville area is home of one of the two commands that trained corpsmen for duty with the Marines since 1950,” Matthews said. “A memorial is long overdue.”
John Crazy Bear initiated the idea to create the memorial.
“You will find Navy corpsmen anywhere there are Marines, wherever they fight, wherever they live; they have been and today still are in the field with our Marines — side by side,” Crazy Bear wrote in a Daily News letter to the editor. “Such a memorial would be a place of honor for all to visit.”
The Marines’ Memorial to the Navy Corpsmen group is working to complete the paperwork to become a nonprofit organization under the Museum of the Marine.
The memorial will be near the existing Beirut Memorial and the 9/11 Memorial, across from the Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery.
“When a family of a corpsman walks out to the memorial, we want them to be able to walk out with honor and integrity,” Moore said.
Contact Heather Gale at hgale@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8464.