Support the Virginia Beach SEAL Monument

A public monument honoring Navy SEALs was long overdue – until the Museum created one on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk.

Although a great number of SEAL forerunners trained in Ft. Pierce during World War Two starting in 1943, the earliest SEAL predecessors came together in Virginia Beach in 1942. These volunteers for special missions distinguished themselves in combat during Operation TORCH in North Africa later that year.

Over time, the SEAL Museum and then other major SEAL heritage sites erected identical Naked Warrior statues to honor their Frogmen, leaving Virginia Beach as the sole SEAL heritage site with no SEAL marker for the general public.

This situation was put right on July 20, 2017 when the Virginia Beach Navy SEAL Monument was dedicated. Visually striking and loaded with layers of significance, it is a compelling tribute to SEALs and their antecedents. The Monument stands on the Boardwalk facing the Atlantic Ocean at 38th Street, a scenic and dignified public place frequented by locals and visitors alike.

The Monument’s centerpiece is the same iconic Naked Warrior statue as at the Museum and the two other major SEAL heritage sites. A timeless symbol of all SEAL history, it depicts a WWII Underwater Demolition Team swimmer atop a beach obstacle, facing the ocean, gathering himself to conduct a combat mission. He is life-size, denoting that the SEAL reputation was made not by supermen, but by ordinary men who do extraordinary things for their country.

The Naked Warrior stands within smooth black granite walls laser-etched with concise words and 100 photographs illustrating the entire history of SEALs and their forerunners. Around the base of the statue is a Living Beach composed of continually replenished sand from over 80 places around the world significant to SEAL history.

Engraved on the walls are gold Medals of Honor for every SEAL who earned one, and gold stars for every SEAL – and a gold paw print for every SEAL war dog – killed in the line of duty. Above the Monument fly the American and SEAL flags. A strong, waterproof time capsule is embedded securely within the Monument, to be opened in 2067.

To monitor events at the Monument, please click here.

Become a part of SEAL history: Donate to the Museum’s Virginia Beach SEAL Monument

The SEAL Monument was built by public donations; the names of nearly 1000 contributors are on a Donor Stone next to it. Further donations of any amount are welcome for maintenance, repairs and improvements. The names of all contributors of $1,000 or more will be laser-etched on a future Donor Stone at the Monument site.

Donations at the $50,000, $25,000, $10,000, and $5,000 levels will receive special recognition.