Navy and Marine Memorial

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.Following the end of World War I, the Navy and Marine Memorial Association formed for the purpose of establishing a monument to who lost their life at sea during the war.

[5] The Memorial Association selected Harvey Wiley Corbett for the architectural design of the monument and Ernesto Begni del Piatta as the sculptor.

Del Piatta's sculpture would feature 7 seagulls with 5 foot wingspans soaring over a crashing wave.

[8][9] The Commission of Fine Arts expressed doubts that the monument would be interesting at full scale and that the sculpture was overly romantic.

[10] The Commission of Fine Arts approved a monument site on the southeast corner of Columbia Island on November 10th, 1930.

[11] A ground breaking ceremony was held on December 3, 1930 with Navy Secretary Charles Francis Adams turning the first shovel at the selected site on the southeast corner of Columbia Island.

[13] The ground was broken on the memorial in 1930, with the foundation completed the following year and it was installed on October 18, 1934, but work on the base and landscaping was postponed due to lack of funding.

The rough concrete base was instead finished with flagstone by the Civilian Conservation Corps under the Works Progress Administration who also installed landscaping, a parking lot and walking paths.