[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4973]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            THE LONE SAILOR

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 3, 2003

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, World War II Navy Veteran, Harry Dunford, 
of my hometown of Lexington, MO, wrote an excellent article, entitled 
``The Lone Sailor,'' which appeared in the Lexington News on February 
5, 2003. This article is a fitting tribute to the American sailor. I 
wish to share Mr. Dunford's writing with the rest of the chamber.

                            The Lone Sailor

       Those who have served in the U.S. Navy will immediately 
     recognize the figure of the statue of ``The Lone Sailor.'' 
     There he stands, waiting on a dock for a boat to take him to 
     his ship, waiting for a bus to take him to a train going home 
     on leave. Or, possibly, waiting for a ride to a new duty 
     station. Who knows?
       He stands there in his blues. It is obviously cold as he 
     has his peacoat on, the collar turned up against the wind and 
     his hands thrust into his peacoat pockets. His seabag rests 
     beside him and his white cap is set on his head in just such 
     a manner so as to say, ``Here is a salt, a 4.0 sailor who has 
     been around awhile.'' He is gazing outward, perhaps to sea, 
     perhaps for a last glimpse at the ship on which he has served 
     until now. Who knows?
       We do know that such a scene has been played out many times 
     by many sailors over the years. The Lone Sailor represents 
     all people who ever served, are serving now or who are yet to 
     serve in the Navy. He is a composite of the U.S. Navy 
     bluejacket, past, present and future.
       The U.S. Navy Memorial was opened Oct. 13, 1987, in 
     Washington, D.C. The memorial has been greatly expanded since 
     that time and includes a broad granite plaza which forms the 
     amphitheater. The statue of the Lone Sailor is the 
     centerpiece of the plaza. The Memorial includes many other 
     features, not the least of which is the Navy Log, where 
     sailors past and present can provide information on their 
     service and have it remain online and available for 
     posterity.
       Since its inception in 1987, the Lone Sailor statue has 
     been replicated at several places in the U.S. The most recent 
     was dedicated at Vista Point, overlooking the historic Golden 
     Gate Bridge in San Francisco in April 2002. An editorial 
     writer noted that ``the statue seems right at home here, 
     where many a sailor paused amid damp fog to sense the last 
     tug of land on his way to the sea.''
       Additional replicas of the statue are located, 
     appropriately, at Norfolk, Va.; San Diego, Calif.; West 
     Haven, Conn.; Kirkland, Wash. near Seattle; and Great Lakes, 
     Ill. Those of us who have ever been stationed at Great Lakes 
     NTS should readily be able to visualize the Lone Sailor 
     waiting for a train to Chicago or Milwaukee just outside the 
     Main Gate with the wind blowing up a cold gale in the 
     wintertime.
       Stanley Bleifeld, sculptor of the Lone Sailor, also 
     sculpted another statue entitled ``Homecoming.'' This statue 
     depicts a sailor and his wife and child in a joyous reunion, 
     and has been placed at many of the locations previously 
     mentioned.
       Wouldn't it be great if a replica of the Lone Sailor stood 
     in front of the Union Station in Kansas City, where during 
     World War II and Korea thousands of bluejackets passed on 
     their way to or from their destiny?

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