What Is the Lone Sailor Project?

The Fort Lauderdale Council, with the leadership of Project Chairperson, former Congressman George Wortley, raised funds to donate this patriotic statue to South Florida to demonstrate gratitude to those who served, are serving and will serve in our sea services. Lone Sailors are all across the globe defending the United States of America, it’s families and it’s freedom as they have in the past and will continue in the future.

The Lone Sailor patriotic statue expresses appreciation to the men and women all across the globe for voluntarily putting their lives at risk to protect freedom. The statue is meant to inspire youth and honor veterans. The Lone Sailor represents core values of honor, courage and commitment.
The statue is located at the Riverwalk, west of Esplanade Park in the downtown Fort Lauderdale Arts & Entertainment District, near the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, The Museum of Discovery & Science, and the Museum of Art.

The Lone Sailor site is available for use by all services, veterans’ organizations, and civic groups for appropriate special events, ceremonies and patriotic services, Over 1.5 million people visit this area annually.

Click Here to Go To the Fort Lauderdale Council Lone Sailor Dedication Ceremony Website

Click Here to Go To the National Lone Sailor Website page of the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation

The Statute

The bronze statue is the creation of Stanley Bleifeld, the U.S. Navy Memorial’s official sculptor. The statue contains two pieces: the Sailor, who stands 7 feet tall and weighs approximately 1000 lbs., and his sea bag and cleat weighing 700 lbs. Currently there are eight Lone Sailor sites: one in Washington, D.C.; two in California, in the cities of San Diego and San Francisco; two in Norfolk, Virginia; one in Great Lakes, Illinois; one in West Haven, Connecticut; and one in Kirkland, Washington.

As part of the casting process, the bronze for the Lone Sailor was mixed with artifacts from eight U.S. Navy ships provided by the curator for the Navy in the Naval Historical Center of the Washington Navy Yard. The ships span the Navy’s history, yielding small pieces of copper sheeting, spikes, hammock hooks and other fragments from the post-revolutionary frigates the Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) and the Constellation, the steamer Hartford, flagship of Admiral David G. Farragut in the Civil War era; the battleship USS Maine; the iron-hulled steamer/sailing ship USS Ranger; the World War II-era cruiser USS Biloxi and the aircraft carrier USS Hancock, and the nuclear-powered submarine USS Seawolf. One last addition was a personal decoration from today’s Navy, one given to sailors in war and peace, the National Defense Service Medal. These bits of metal are now part of the Lone Sailor.

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Citizens In Support Of Sea Services

Founded in 1902 with the encouragement of President Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy League of the United States is unique among military-oriented associations in that it is a civilian organization dedicated to the education of our citizens, including our elected officials and the support of the men and women in the sea services as well as their families.  The Navy League also supports youth through Sea Cadet units and the NJROTC.  One need not have served in the military to be a member of the Navy League, which has some 70,000 members in over 300 Councils.  The Fort Lauderdale Council has been greeting military ships of all Navies arriving in Port Everglades for over 50 years, earning a reputation for Fort Lauderdale as the “best liberty Port in the world.”

The Navy League is a nonprofit organization as defined within Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  It receives no government funding and in the past two years, Fort Lauderdale Council has provided over $160,000 to Sea Cadet and NJROTC programs in the community.