Monument unveiled as a tribute to families of the wounded and fallen

[MikeL]

http://www.jdnews.com/news/military/monument-unveiled-as-a-tribute-to-families-of-the-wounded-and-fallen-1.107988

http://www.jdnews.com/polopoly_fs/1.107991.1362781823!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_445/no-man-left-behind-statue.jpg

photograph the statue is based off
http://marinesmagazine.dodlive.mil/files/2010/06/marines_sgtMajBradleyKasal.jpg

Monument unveiled as a tribute to families of the wounded and fallen
By THOMAS BRENNAN - Daily News Staff
Published: Friday, March 8, 2013 at 17:33 PM.
As a 10-foot tall bronze monument outside of the Wounded Warrior Battalion Hope and Care Center on Camp Lejeune was revealed clapping and cheers rang out, echoing off of the nearby trees.


“This monument itself is about hope, and that’s something that is important for the American public to recognize,” said Robin Kelleher, the president and CEO of Hope For The Warriors. “(The wounded warriors) don’t necessarily need money and trips. The hope is the real important concept that our service members need to move onto the next phase of recovery or their next phase of life — so this is for us, it’s about everything we do.”

On Friday afternoon, former Marine Sgt. Christopher Marquez and former Marine Cpl. Dane Shaffer unveiled the monument, which depicts them aiding now Sgt. Maj. Bradley Kasal during a firefight in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. The monument’s sculptor John Phelps, a gold-star father himself, spent the last four years constructing the life-sized monument, which was completed on Nov. 1.

“The monument itself is a gift,” said Kelleher, 47, of Alexandria, Va. “We have been very involved with the Warrior Hope and Care Center. You don’t need to ask too many questions when you drive up and see something like this. … I think everyone should come see it and see what this monument is all about.”

Kelleher describes the monument as part of Phelps’ sacrifice.

“The gift that he has given to the Marine Corps through this monument — it’s a way we support our fallen families. Everything about this place is about healing and honoring,” said Kelleher. “It’s a pinnacle moment for all of us.”

Phelps’ journey with Hope For The Warriors began in 2004 after his son Chance Phelps was killed in Iraq. John Phelps and his wife were subsequently named ambassadors for the state of Wyoming. When he requested to be more than an ambassador, he came to an agreement with Hope For The Warriors to put his sculpting talents to good use.

The construction of the monument made him miss his son more and more, he said.

“(The Marines) understand (the monument) is honoring the sacrifice of all Marines especially the wounded,” Phelps said.

According to Lt. Col Nick Davis, 41, of Sneads Ferry, this monument is a culmination of years of constructing facilities and programs for the wounded, ill and injured Marines and sailors aboard Camp Lejeune.

“As a Marine walks or drives into this complex, they are going to see Marines helping Marines,” said Davis, the commanding officer of Wounded Warrior Battalion East. “And that’s what Wounded Warrior Battalion East does. Our mission is to help the wounded, ill and injured in their transition back to the fleet or back to civilian life and this monument shows that in sculpture.”

Davis said the battalion supports 458 Marines and their families every day. And, Davis said, there is just as much support for Wounded Warrior Battalion East itself.

“We were just in California a couple days ago for the Marine Corps trials where the Marine Corps brings their wounded, ill and injured,” Davis said. “There was an outpouring of support and today — this is a snapshot of what Onslow County does for us every day.”



Contact Daily News Military Affairs Reporter Thomas Brennan at 910-219-8453 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @thomasjbrennan.

 

[MikeL]

http://www.special-ops.org/two-statues-recall-fallujahs-hell-house/

Two statues recall Fallujah’s ‘Hell House’
By admin on March 9, 2013 9:22 am in American Heroes, News / no comments


A sculpture commemorating one of the most gripping images of Operation Iraqi Freedom will be unveiled Friday aboard Camp Lejeune. Installed in front of the base’s Warrior Hope and Care Center, the statue depicts a 2004 photo snapped by freelance combat photographer Lucian Read showing wounded Marine 1st Sgt. Bradley Kasal, his uniform soaked in blood, being carried out of Fallujah’s famous “Hell House” by two lance corporals.

Kasal had entered the building when he saw that Marines were trapped inside, fighting with insurgents in close quarters. He and a few other Marines combed through the structure to find and rescue their wounded brothers-in-arms, getting hit repeatedly as they went by enemy gunfire and shrapnel.

Kasal would receive the Navy Cross for bravery that day under fire and despite severe wounds to both legs.

Wyoming sculptor John Phelps, who was commissioned to the project by the national nonprofit organization Hope for the Warriors, said the project has special meaning for him.

A Vietnam veteran, Phelps lost his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps to combat in Iraq in 2004, the year the photo was taken. The journey of Lance Cpl. Phelps home from the battlefield after he was killed by enemy fire is portrayed in the 2009 HBO film Taking Chance, starring Kevin Bacon.

“It’s an honor for me to do it,” Phelps said. “It’s a presentation that I can make to recognize our service people and our wounded.”


Phelps said the project, which he molded in clay at half size, took close to a year of work to complete.

The final statue will be cast in bronze and will stand ten-by-thirteen feet on a pedestal.

The artist said he had great respect for Read, who he met in 2010 at a Hope for the Warriors even.

“His photograph is going to be one of the defining parts of the Iraq War,” Phelps said. “We have Armistice Day, with the sailor in Times Square giving the nurse a kiss, and the photo of raising the flag at Iwo Jima. This is one of those images.”

Phelps also serves Hope for the Warriors as a state ambassador and program coordinator.

“Hope For The Warriors is proud to partner with Gold Star father John Phelps to present a monument that symbolizes the strength and courage of our warriors,” organization president Robin Kelleher said in a release.

The Hope and Care Centers are facilities for rehabilitation and recovery of wounded troops, planned and conceived by Hope for the Warriors and funded by the Marine Corps. The Camp Pendleton Hope and Care Center opened last October, and the Lejeune center opened a few months later in December. An identical sculpture is expected to be unveiled in front of the Pendleton center later this month.

Funds for the Lejeune monument were raised by the North Carolina Credit Union League and Balfour Beatty Construction, according to a release. The organization also plans to sell limited-edition table-size bronze and resin miniatures of the sculpture for a small donation.