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United States Navy Memorial Plaza in D.C. honors navy veterans
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One of the Navy Memorial relief sculptures showing John Paul Jones. Photo / P.Dolinski
The United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. honors the men and women of the navy with a wide open plaza of concrete and water, and statues and stories.
There is a map of the world called “The Granite Sea,” masts with signal flags, and fountains and waterfalls to recall the water world inhabited by the sailor.
The Lone Sailor statue stands, life size, with his bag beside him. Is he ready to leave with his shipmates on his next deployment, or is he returning home from the sea to his family? It is a simple yet moving statue, a man standing alone, not on a pedestal, but looking across the expanse of space and concrete.
On a weekday, a scattering of employees from surrounding offices enjoy sack lunches, a few parents walk with children and strollers, and the occasional tourist studies the relief sculptures. The relief sculptures which circle the walkway each tell part of the story of the men and women who have served their country in the navy.
It is just a short walk for the masses of tourists who populate the mall, but probably few realize it is there. It isn’t a big spectacular monument, but it tells its story well. It would be a good meeting spot to sit along the edge with the gentle sound of the water while waiting for your group to gather from the various museums.
The Naval Heritage Center located on the plaza has a Navy Log, where veterans, sailors, and their family members can find each other and communicate about events, or review memories. The memoirs of over 600,000 service members have been collected over 20 years. To learn more check the following websites: www.navylog.org or www.navymemorial.org.
If you found this interesting, you might also enjoy reading about the marines:
The National Museum of the Marine Corps.
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