Corpsmen Memorial

The sculpture for the memorial is designed by Nationally Recognized Artist  Abbe' Godwin to honor all those who served alongside the Marine as Fleet Marine Force Corpsmen.  It is intended to be a place of honor and reflection, a place of recognition of the duties performed and the bonds forged in conflict.

Abbe' Godwin of Colfax, North Carolina, designed the state memorial in Raleigh, which was funded completely with privately raised funds. "After the Firefight" is dedicated to the men and women of the state who served in the nation's longest and most controversial overseas war. Godwin's sculpture depicts two men carrying a wounded comrade to a nearby medevac landing zone. The clothing and equipment of the soldiers on this detailed, heroic statue were sculpted from artifacts loaned to the artist by Vietnam veterans.

A Peacekeeper stands guard at the Beirut Memorial sculpted by the hands of Abbe' Godwin.  On the left hand is a wedding ring. In the right hand an M-16 rifle. The eyes keep watch - a look of determination frozen on the bronze face. He is 6 feet tall and stands over the names of the fallen listed on the Beirut Memorial wall.

To those who visit the site off Lejeune Boulevard, the statue is known as "The Peacekeeper."   To Abbe' Godwin, the artist who created it, the figure will always be "The Guardian of Freedom."

The incredible lifelike detail that Abbe' Godwin captures in her bronze sculptures, and in the authenticity of the emotion she evokes in the scenes portrayed in her work made the choice easy in selecting the artist to design The North Carolina Corpsmen Memorial.   The photo above of the maquette which stands only 14 inches tall demonstrates the extreme attention to detail in all of Abbe' Godwin's work.

The U.S. Navy Corpsmen's relationship with the Fleet Marine Forces goes back more than 110 years... since the first corpsmen landed with the Marine Expeditionary Unit at Guantanamo, Cuba.   The Jacksonville area is home of one of the two commands that trained corpsmen for duty with the Marines since 1950,  "A memorial is long overdue."

John Crazy Bear initiated the idea to create the memorial. "You will find Navy corpsmen anywhere there are Marines, wherever they fight, wherever they live; they have been and today still are in the field with our Marines side by side," Crazy Bear stated... "Such a memorial would be a place of honor for all to visit."