Seabees Memorial

{{Infobox monument

| name = Seabees Memorial

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| image = Seabee Memorial - looking N - Arlington National Cemetery - 2011.JPG

| caption = The memorial in 2011

| location = Arlington, Virginia, United States

| designer = Felix de Weldon

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The Seabees Memorial is a sculpture and memorial to Seabees by Felix de Weldon, installed along Memorial Drive near the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Monuments-and-Memorials/Memorial-Avenue|title=Memorial Avenue|website=www.arlingtoncemetery.mil|access-date=2019-04-09}} It is administered by the National Park Service as part of George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington, Virginia.{{Cite web|url=http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID:siris_ari_324801|title=Seabees Memorial, (sculpture) {{!}} Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution|website=collections.si.edu|access-date=2019-04-09}}

Congress authorized the placement of a memorial on public land by the Seabee Memorial Association in September 1972.{{Cite web|url=http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=86&page=678|title=Public Law 92–422|website=US House of Representatives}} It was dedicated on Memorial Day 1974.{{Cite web|url=https://seabeemuseum.wordpress.com/2018/03/05/a-memorial-to-those-that-can-do/|title=A Memorial to those that "CAN DO!"|last=Lacano|first=Julius|date=2018-03-05|website=U.S. Navy Seabee Museum|language=en|access-date=2019-04-09}}

Description

The memorial features panels depicting Seabee missions since 1942. According to the CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation, the bronze figure at the center of the memorial depicts a "bare-chested, muscular SEABEE, rifle slung over one shoulder, offering a helping hand to a small child."{{Cite web|url=https://seabeehf.org/resources/memorials-monuments/national-seabee-memorial-arlington-national-cemetery-arlington-virginia/|title=National Seabee Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia|publisher=CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation|accessdate=April 8, 2019}}

Gold-colored inscriptions above and below the panels read "SEABEES CAN DO" and "With willing hearts and skillful hands, the difficult we do at once. The impossible takes a bit longer!", respectively. The base which supports the figure sculpture is the inscribed text: "With compassion for others / we build – we fight / for peace with freedom".