Where you will get the up to date information on the "Man In The Sea Memorial Monument Project" as it develops
History-
Our project began back in the fall of 2003 when we decided to create a Military divers forum, for all military divers to use for contacting one another and sharing their past diving experiences with others. After a month we decided to take up an idea that we had thought about some years ago while on a trip to Catalina Island in March of 1997. The idea of a military diver in a full hardhat configuration on the bottom of the sea, hence the "Man In The Sea Memorial Monuments" concept was created.
Back in January of 2004, as fast as we could keep up with our site we had military divers joining, one Ex-Army Diver, Jeff West came onboard and we discussed the idea of the project with him, he was very excited and wanted to assist us in making this a reality. Mr. West took the ball and we collectively gathered supporters from all over the world, people in the military, individuals, diving groups, corporations, and others in the diving community who had a similar desire to see a diving monument erected. We later found out from Dr. Craven that as far back as 1978 and possibly earlier, various people thought of the idea of a “Jake” monument. Famous people in the diving community started sending us letters of endorsement of our project.
As the year closed we had a web site design for the project and a committee to drive the project. As a non-profit 501c3 corporation it is in the public interest for us to provide these types of projects. We also have various other public projects we are involved with that involve military personal and the private sectors. In early 2005, Mr. West was able to recruit a bronze Artist Jim Harrison Smith, to work up a small to scale prototype of what the statue could be like. With the assistance from many people in the diving community, military and non-military we were on the way to getting this monument being developed. Photos of the progress can be seen in the military diver’s photo albums on our home page.
As additional active & retired military officers, diving associations worldwide and corporations came onboard for the project, one of the largest architectural firms in the country; HDR Architects joined the project in July 2005 and is leading the way to complete the architectural plans and working with the NAVY for the monument at the Washington DC Navy yard.
With co-operation from the Navy, Army, Marines, Coast Guard, Seals and various private citizens in the diving field around the world, we are pleased to provide you with this web site for honoring "All Military Divers". This monument from the beginning has had one sole concept, to be a monument to honor ALL Military Divers, not just Navy Divers.
The Memorial committee, along with feedback from the diving community, has determined that the initial project would be a Monument which will tentatively be a 10-11 ft tall standing bronze MKV Diver "JAKE" (the rig used by hard hat divers).
There are some indications that individual donations may include bricks or small brick size markings with the donor’s names, which will surround the monuments and give recognition to Divers who trained, or have served at the monument location, as well as “Man and the Sea Memorial Monument Plaques” for ships and duty stations or individuals so designated. Details of this have to be worked out with the US Navy & HDR. For now we are taking names for orders of bricks at the monument.
In the construction and placement phases of the "Monument" We will take into consideration and acknowledge all of those who have served their Country in the performance of their Military diving duties and memorialize historically significant Military Diving Locations or events.
It is intended to allow the public to pay "Tribute" to all military divers and the deeds that have gone un-noticed for decades.
Jim Harrison Smith prior Navy Submariner and renowned Bronze Sculpture Artist, has graciously donated thousands of his hours to bring a real life representation of what a memorial monument would look like. He has completed numerous memorial bronze monuments for Government and local groups. We will be chronologically documenting this project for future publications. The photos of his progress are available on our Divers Photo Albums showing photographs of his progress on the memorial sculpture at as well as some of his works.
If you have made donations to us and do not see your name listed, please contact us immediately, or if you have made donations to some other group believing that your donation would support our efforts, please contact us. HSPIG welcomes all that would like to assist in this effort, may they be active or retired military, private citizens or corporations who would like to help the project. HSPIG is in the planning stages to determine actual costs of this project based on the current design concept and that will work out to be about $10,000,000 which will include a multi phase project of a bridge and retrofit of the hard surface area across the channel and a fund for future maintenance of the memorial as required.
As of June of 2011 HSPIG is in full swing for fundraising for the Man In The Sea Memorial Monument project. The project will be on the grounds of the Washington DC Navy yard, the home of the Navy Diving Training School for decades and where the Anacostia River Walk AKA (Capital River front) will traverse through the Navy Yard for public access to many historical Navy destinations. HSPIG got the green light from the US Navy in June of 2011 so that we could begin collecting the needed funding for the project in earnest now after some 6+ years of paperwork. The US Navy will have full acknowledgement of this gift after the design, NEPA and business case analysis are completed. (Which in English terms means it is ok for HSPIG to collect the funds needed, get the final designs reviewed with the WNY & HDR and work out any kinks and begin the project construction when NEPA and the business case analysis are completed). At that point the project will become a "Fully Acknowledged Gift" to the US Navy from HSPIG.
No other project for Military divers has undertaken the enormity of such a project and succeeded with such a limited budget and small staff. HSPIG has been working with all the WNY commands as they have rotated in and out of the WNY for more than 6 years to get this great project to this point! Our hats off to the Man In The Sea Memorial Monument Design team of HSPIG who worked on this for thousands of hours with no payment for the efforts they made, to the great HDR architects and their management staff for all the wonderful assistance they have been and that we look forward to working on the final designs with such a great team. Also to the handful of gracious donors who helped us through the 6 years of red tape, permits, soil testing, surveys to get us to this great point in time. And lastly to all of you who have supported us behind the scenes, our families & friends who sometimes thought we were a little crazy to undertake such an effort!
Pass the word, and let all your friends & family and the businesses you work for that this monument is now becoming a reality and that they can help in the creation of this by making a donation to the project.
For details on donations go to the donations page we provided. There are many ways to help us in this effort, and we are glad to accept any and all forms of donations.
Our other projects in formation are the Seals project, the Army's project at Ft. Eustis VA, as well as others around the country where we can honor historical figures and sites in diving history.
The MSMM project is intended for a memorial monument to ALL MILITARY DIVERS and locations where significant military diving events have taken place.
Homeland Security Policy Institute Group is taking orders for the "Limited Edition" of the official 250 of the 22” tall standing "Man In The Sea Memorial Monument" bronze miniatures. These statues have an optional 2” thick 12” diameter granite-rotating base to allow for 360 degrees of viewing. The price for one of the 250 sequentially numbered bronze standing statues is approximately $3,900.00 each, Packing costs are about $75.00 and shipping costs are about $90.00 which in today's market of bronze statues is in the middle price range, We do require a down payment of $1,300.00 down and then 1/3 when the casting is done and the balance 2-3 weeks prior to when the statue is ready to ship to the customer. After the pre-casting order is completed you will expect your shipment in about 2 months. Each replica is Made here in America, and hundreds of meticulous hours of hand detailing go into each and every piece! These are NOT MASS Produced! Proceeds from these sales will go to support creation of the full size 10' standing monument in Washington DC at the Navy yard. (Details on this can be made by contacting us).
The approximate time for delivery will be 8-10 weeks after the initial order has been placed with HSPIG. These statues will be numbered serially for this release. If you would like one of the first ones, call us today or send us an E-mail so that we can contact you. The sale of these will assist us in funding the standing 10-11’ Man In The Sea Memorial Monument projects and ensure that we have the needed capital to build the full size statue!
(HSPIG has not authorized any organization or persons outside of HSPIG to make this offer)
If you or your organization would like one of these limited edition standing miniatures, let us know and get on the list for this pre-casting order. This price will be held for Six weeks. You will receive a letter for the amount of deduction when you purchase your statue, and the proceeds of your donations will go towards this project. Since we are giving you something of value in return for your donation only the actual amount less the fees is considered a tax deduction by IRS rules, that amount today should be in the $1300.00 range which is what will go toward funding the project.
If your organization or corporation would like to make a donation of over $100,000 we will ship you a numbered statue for your generous donation, along with the granite base, a letter of appreciation of your efforts in this fine project and a donation receipt for taxes.
If you have a interesting diving history story or film from your diving career, please email us with the details and a short description of your unique story.