Navy - Merchant Marines Memorial

Much like my post here, I motivate myself to run by visiting things in VA/DC. Well today's 7 mile run was to the Navy-Merchant Marines Memorial. While driving by (and by driving, I mean being a passenger) I noticed all the construction was cleared on a portion of the Mount Vernon trail and I figured I should give it a shot and run over there since I couldn't get there with all of the construction. I used to often run past this memorial but since it was behind orange construction gates, I couldn't get there. On my run I realized this is the Navy-Merchant Marine memorial and its actually very pretty. Could be because they had recently cleaned/repaired the memorial due to construction. Anyways, here it is in all of its glory:


Quite pretty actually.

A bit about it:

The Navy-Merchant Marine Memorial, located in Lady Bird Johnson Park on Columbia Island in Washington, D.C., is a monument honoring sailors of the United States Navy and the United States Merchant Marine who died at sea during World War I. It was designed in 1922 by Harvey Wiley Corbett and sculpted by Ernesto Begni del Piatta. It was dedicated on October 18, 1934.

Nicknamed "Waves and Gulls," the memorial depicts seven seagulls above the crest of a wave. It is cast from aluminum and the base is made of green granite (the base was originally concrete but replaced by the Works Progress Administration in 1940). It stands 35 feet (10.6 m) tall and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide.

The memorial reads:

"To the strong souls and ready valor of those men of the United States who in the Navy, the Merchant Marine and other paths of Activity upon the waters of the world have given life or still offer it in the performance of heroic deeds this monument is dedicated by a grateful people."

Someone had (recently) laid flowers here.

And what a beautiful view from the memorial!