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Navy Memorial and Lone Sailor Statue

The Navy Memorial 1987

The Navy Memorial 2002

The U.S. Navy Memorial was opened to the world exactly 15 years ago this fall on a bright October day. The day was 13 October 1987, the 212th birthday of the Navy. The occasion was the dedication and ribbon cutting for the outdoor plaza----the "Granite Sea" plaza---- that would constitute "phase one" in the creation of the U.S. Navy Memorial...

Before the creation of the Navy Memorial, there was no universally recognized place in which our Sea Service veterans could gather and honor fallen comrades----no rallying point from which to hail the great Navy traditions of honor, courage, and commitment. There was no Lone Sailor standing watch as a symbol of excellence. No Homecoming Statue existed in bronze to show the sacrifice of Navy families. There was no Navy Log. (from "Range and Bearings" summer 2002 edition)

This seven foot statue of the Lone Sailor stands in the Navy Memorial, Washington DC. Replicas are located the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, and at the Wall of Remembrance in Norfolk, Virginia as well as other pertinent sites.

The Lone Sailor statue represents all people who ever served, are serving now or who are yet to serve in the Navy. The Lone Sailor is a composite of the U.S. Navy bluejacket, past, present and future. He's called the Lone Sailor, yet he is hardly ever alone, standing there on the broad granite plaza which forms the amphitheater of the Navy Memorial. Visitors to the Memorial are immediately drawn to him to peer into his far seeing eyes, to admire him or size him up, to see if he's as tough or as gentle as he seems. Visitors find that he is all that he seems and probably more.
The founders of the Navy Memorial envisioned this Lone Sailor at 25 years old at most, a senior second class petty officer who is fast becoming a seagoing veteran. He has done it all -- fired his weapons in a dozen wars, weighed anchor from a thousand ports, tracked supplies, doused fires, repelled boarders, typed in quadruplicate and mess-cooked, too. He has made liberty call in great cities and tiny villages, where he played tourist, ambassador, missionary to the poor, adventurer, souvenir shopper and friend to new lands. His shipmates remember him with pride and tell their grandchildren stories, some of which, like him, are seven feet tall... (excerpt from www.lonesailor.org )

Learn more about the Navy Memorial, The Lone Sailor, how you may enroll in the Navy Log, and receive the quarterly publication, The Lone Sailor, Range and Bearings from your U.S. Navy Memorial, by logging on to Lone Sailor or by writing to ahoy@lonesailor.org

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Navy Memorial and Lone Sailor Statue

The Navy Memorial 1987	The Navy Memorial 2002

The U.S. Navy Memorial was opened to the world exactly 15 years ago this fall on a bright October day. The day was 13 October 1987, the 212th birthday of the Navy. The occasion was the dedication and ribbon cutting for the outdoor plaza----the "Granite Sea" plaza---- that would constitute "phase one" in the creation of the U.S. Navy Memorial... Before the creation of the Navy Memorial, there was no universally recognized place in which our Sea Service veterans could gather and honor fallen comrades----no rallying point from which to hail the great Navy traditions of honor, courage, and commitment. There was no Lone Sailor standing watch as a symbol of excellence. No Homecoming Statue existed in bronze to show the sacrifice of Navy families. There was no Navy Log. (from "Range and Bearings" summer 2002 edition)


This seven foot statue of the Lone Sailor stands in the Navy Memorial, Washington DC. Replicas are located the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, and at the Wall of Remembrance in Norfolk, Virginia as well as other pertinent sites.

The Lone Sailor statue represents all people who ever served, are serving now or who are yet to serve in the Navy. The Lone Sailor is a composite of the U.S. Navy bluejacket, past, present and future. He's called the Lone Sailor, yet he is hardly ever alone, standing there on the broad granite plaza which forms the amphitheater of the Navy Memorial. Visitors to the Memorial are immediately drawn to him to peer into his far seeing eyes, to admire him or size him up, to see if he's as tough or as gentle as he seems. Visitors find that he is all that he seems and probably more. The founders of the Navy Memorial envisioned this Lone Sailor at 25 years old at most, a senior second class petty officer who is fast becoming a seagoing veteran. He has done it all -- fired his weapons in a dozen wars, weighed anchor from a thousand ports, tracked supplies, doused fires, repelled boarders, typed in quadruplicate and mess-cooked, too. He has made liberty call in great cities and tiny villages, where he played tourist, ambassador, missionary to the poor, adventurer, souvenir shopper and friend to new lands. His shipmates remember him with pride and tell their grandchildren stories, some of which, like him, are seven feet tall... (excerpt from www.lonesailor.org ) Learn more about the Navy Memorial, The Lone Sailor, how you may enroll in the Navy Log, and receive the quarterly publication, The Lone Sailor, Range and Bearings from your U.S. Navy Memorial, by logging on to Lone Sailor or by writing to ahoy@lonesailor.org