Millington officials broke ground this week on Tennessee's first Lone Sailor Monument, an $800,000 tribute to the generations of sailors who have passed through the small Shelby County city's naval base. The ceremony landed on a fitting day — the same stretch of time the city used to celebrate the Navy's 251st birthday, according to the seed reporting that first described the event.
A Monument Years in the Making
The project has been in development for about two years, and Millington Mayor Larry Dagen said the pace has picked up considerably thanks to recent support, as reported by WREG.com. The monument will mark Tennessee's first-ever Lone Sailor Monument, a distinction tied directly to Millington's identity as home to Naval Support Activity Mid-South, which the U.S. Navy Memorial describes as the world's largest inland naval base. The foundation says the memorial will honor “the courage, commitment, and sacrifice of the U.S. Navy members who have called Millington home.”
Dagen described the monument in simpler terms, calling it a small way to honor sailors who have sacrificed for the country, per the station's report. Many Navy personnel may visit the Millington base twice during their careers, including for discussions tied to retirement, the same account notes — a detail that underscores just how personal the city's connection to the Navy runs for longtime residents and veterans alike, many of whom are eager to see that service honored through the finished monument.
Project Cost Up to $800,000
The project carries a price tag of up to $800,000, and organizers have already collected $350,000 in donations, according to the WREG report. Among the contributors is the First Horizon Foundation, which the station identified as one of the organizations backing the effort financially. Organizers are still soliciting donations, the Navy Memorial Foundation has confirmed.
Behind the scenes, a Lone Sailor Steering Committee has been assembled to oversee the project from construction and installation through long-term preservation and community programming, according to the Navy Memorial. City paperwork tied to the effort shows Millington approved entering into an agreement with the United States Navy Memorial Foundation covering sponsorship, payment and placement of the statue, authorizing Mayor Dagen to act on the city's behalf, per a city resolution.
Joining a Program Decades in the Making
Once complete, Millington's statue will become the 20th addition to the Navy Memorial's Statue City Program, which currently counts 19 Lone Sailor statues installed around the world, according to the Navy Memorial's statue program page. The program dates back to 1997, when it began with a Lone Sailor statue placed at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois, the same source notes. Existing statues stretch across the United States and overseas, including locations in France and Hawaii, per the WREG report.
Mayor Dagen first unveiled a rendering of the planned Lone Sailor Monument Plaza at VFW Post 7175 back in February, according to a DVIDS report from that event, which also stated the project was scheduled for completion by the end of this year. With the groundbreaking now complete, Millington's long-anticipated tribute to its sailors has officially moved from rendering to reality.
