Chesapeake Beach Veterans Memorial
Posted by: Mother Wolf
N 38° 41.670 W 076° 31.979
18S E 366683 N 4283990
This is a Memorial to those that gave 'ALL'.
Waymark Code: WM56VH
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 11/20/2008
Views: 19
In 1998 the small town of Chesapeake Beach, in Calvert County Maryland, wanted to construct a Memorial to those that have 'Given Their All'. They tried to purchase 3 connected pieces of property but were only able to acquire 1 track of land. It is not a large piece of property & it is nestled in between 2 rather large private homes on the waterfront of the Chesapeake Bay.
The University of Maryland's Architecture Department was then contacted & asked to design a memorial. The Dept. turned it into a contest for the students. There were 20 designs submitted & after some deliberation a design by Jack Stack was chosen. Construction began soon after.
On this small section of ground a beautiful Memorial was built for the Veterans who died protecting our Freedom. This small area has been named Memorial Park.
There are 2 distinct sections to this Memorial. A very large flag flies over the simple stone wall that has the name 'Chesapeake Beach Veterans Memorial Park'. In the other area there are 5 marble markers, representative of each branch of the military. They form a circle around a Compass Rose design at its center.
Post 9/11 there were 2 headstone type markers added to either side of the main walk path. 1 is dedicated to those Police Officers lost & the other is dedicated to the Firefighters that were lost.
There are no plaques, no dedication signs only the stone structures. There is no web site or even brochures. I have spoken with the town hall people who say they have thought of making a website but have not done so at this time. All that there is was a small piece of information which was told to me by the secretary that has worked there since before the memorial was built. There aren't even any pictures except those taken by tourists & visitors.
Every year I visit a different Memorial to say 'Thank You' to those who 'Gave Their All' & to say a prayer for their continued safe journey. This was the beautiful location of my quiet time visit this year.