Tribute to Navy Yard Shooting Victims Held at Statue Created by Jewish Sculptor
A memorial service was held Tuesday morning at the U.S. Navy Memorial in honor of the victims of Monday’s shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, ABC7 News reported.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and other senior Department of Defense Officials laid a wreath in front of “The Lone Sailor,” the statue created for the memorial by Jewish sculptor Stanley Bleifeld in 1987.
Bleifeld, who served in the Navy during World War II, created four sculptures for the Navy Memorial (including the famed “Homecomeing”). Other famous works include the Knights of Columbus Memorial in Connecticut, and “The Baseball Players” at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. He died in 2011.
Flags will fly at half-staff across the nation through Friday night in memory of the 12 victims of Monday’s shooting.
“This is a tragic day for the Department of Defense, the national capital area, and the nation,” Hagel said in a statement Monday.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!