Statue stands watch in Dowell

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Photo by VIKI VOLK From the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Athena Rolsma, PS2, Charles Oleskiewicz, ABE3, center, and Justin Smith present the colors commemorating Veterans Day 2008 at the "On Watch" statue in Dowell. The monument commemorates the amphibious training base that prepared 68,000 troops for action in both European and Pacific battles of World War II. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

More than 150 veterans, families and appreciative citizens attended Calvert Marine Museum's first Veterans Day tribute Sunday at the "On Watch" statue at the end of the Dowell peninsula.

The "On Watch" statue is of a young sailor staring out to sea and was dedicated little more than a year ago to cap what had become an annual Cradle of Invasion reenactment of the amphibious landing training the U.S. Navy conducted from Dowell peninsula from 1942 to 1945.

This year, the museum hosted a wreath laying ceremony at the statue followed by a reception and Navy jazz band concert at the museum. The day was intended, said Sherry Reid, the museum's volunteer and event coordinator, to establish a program to continue to acknowledge the men and women who served at the amphibious training base at Solomons and also in recognition of the military who continue to keep watch over a grateful nation.

Capt. Andrew Macyko, commanding officer of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, opened the under-tent ceremony on a balmy autumn afternoon by thanking the museum for its timing the ceremony to Veterans Day.

Originally named Armistice Day to mark the end of fighting in World War I on the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month," Macyko explained the selection of this particular date to honor those who have served in the United States armed forces.

In 1945, the last year of World War II, the U.S. Congress changed the name to Veterans Day.

As of 2008, Macyko said, the day commemorates nearly 25 million living, American veterans. In extending his thanks for their service Macyko included their "families, husbands, and wives and aunts and uncles and children." Everyone in a military family, he said, "makes sacrifices."

Southern Maryland is no stranger to sacrifice, Macyko continued, recalling the recent death in Afghanistan of Army Sgt. Ryan Baumann, a young man from St. Mary's County. On the drive to Arlington, Va., where Baumann was buried, Macyko said he saw the Southern Maryland highways lined with people saying goodbye.

"It touched me deeply," Macyko said, asking that the attendees "think of Sgt. Ryan Baumann and make it part of this day."

Introducing guest speaker Del. Anthony O'Donnell (R-Calvert, St. Mary's) as "no stranger to the Navy," Macyko noted that O'Donnell enlisted in the Navy in 1979 and during an eight-year stint went to "nuke school." O'Donnell's service and education led him into nuclear engineering. After leaving the service he joined Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant and is a former supervisor in the Instrument Modifications Unit of the plant.

"From the first, at Lexington," O'Donnell opened his remarks by referencing the 1775 battle that launched the Revolutionary War, "the American veteran is a special, special person."

Acknowledging the World War II veterans in the crowd, O'Donnell noted that the location of the day's commemorative service was "the cradle of modern maritime, wartime training" which was when, he said, "we began the first battle in the long war against communism. I believe that battle continues today," O'Donnell told the audience, "… They're still out there, folks," he said.

"Remember we're at war today," O'Donnell said. "We forget … in fact, we're in two wars … we forget because we don't make that daily sacrifice."

The sacrifices, however, are being made by American soldiers, O'Donnell said and in closing his remarks, he offered to the veterans and those serving today, "a heartfelt thank you from an ever grateful nation."

One of those serving today flanked Macyko. Chief Petty Officer Michael Brown had just returned from Afghanistan where the Navy supplements and aids the efforts of the Army and Marine units stationed there.

Brown and Lt. Col. Vernon Garner (Ret.) who served 30 years in the U. S. Air Force, joined Macyko in placing a wreath at the base of the On Watch statue.

The statue, according to Sunday's speeches and prayer, carries a two-fold meaning. One is to commemorate the location of the amphibious landing training — which processed 68,000 military personnel between 1942 and 1945. Before Calvert Marine Museum rekindled interest in the site more than a decade ago there had been no memorial or event identifying the location.

The other meaning was embodied in the selection of the single sailor looking out to sea holding binoculars in his hands, symbolic of the military remaining on steady watch on behalf of a grateful nation.

And it is cast in bronze, said commissioners' President Wilson Parran (D), who spoke after O'Donnell. "Bronze that is strong, powerful and unyielding, just like his living counterpart 60 years ago."

Parran said the statue was dedicated to veterans and also to the citizens of Calvert County.

Garner, before helping place the wreath, acknowledged that he fits both categories — as well as still fitting into his uniform. Born and raised in Solomons, he joined the U.S. Army and served through WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He then retired and came home.

"I traveled all over the world," Garner said, "all over the country. And I like it best right here."

Parran also thanked Commissioner Linda Kelley (R), describing her as a driving force to see that the memorial was built for the "veterans of Calvert and all Southern Maryland counties, no matter which branch you served in or where you performed your service in this world."

Museum workers enthusiastically agreed with Parran's praise of Kelley and also named Debbie Shirley as the person with the most knowledge about the statue and how it came into being. The short answer, according to Shirley, is bricks.

After years of languishing in a design phase only, Kelley pushed O'Donnell and Sen. Roy P. Dyson (D-Calvert, St. Mary's, Charles), who returned to Calvert with $50,000 from the state — not enough for the full project. Then came the brick idea.

Bricks at the path around the base of the statue are engraved with names and slogans. Kelley began hawking them for $100 apiece a few years ago.

It worked, said Shirley, who has bought a brick for her father-in-law and who today handles a waiting list of people who want to buy a brick.

For now, those wishing to purchase a brick will have to wait, Shirley said, "for the next campaign."

To reach the memorial, follow Dowell Road to the very end. The "On Watch" sailor stands on a small bluff and gazes out toward the Chesapeake Bay.