VMGR MEMORIAL MONUMENT PROJECT INFORMATION

VMGR Memorial Informational Video 

BACKGROUND: In 1970 the Marine Corps lost a KC-130 (BuNo 150685) in a fatal crash in El Toro California. One of the pilots lost on that aircraft was Captain Robert Walls.  Captain Walls cousin,  Mr. Johnathan Keene, spearheaded an effort to have a memorial dedicated and placed at VMGR-352 at MCAS Miramar in honor of his cousin and all those lost. Since that time Mr. Keene also discovered that there is no monument to the other aircrew lost in fatal VMGR incidents over the years. He wants to try to do something about that!

Working with our MCATA Historian Alan Stinar (founder of Marine Battle Herk Project) and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation a plan has been developed to build a memorial monument in Quantico in honor of those lost.  A committee has been formed consisting of Mr. Keene, Alan Stinar, Jacob Cobb (founder of Raidermobile Foundation) and an executive team from MCATA consisting of MCATA President Dave Harshbarger, MCATA Vice President Matt Piliere, MCATA Treasurer John Klossner and Webmaster and Past MCATA President Rich Driscoll.  The Marine Corps Air Transport Association has agreed to assist in the fundraising effort to build that memorial by spreading the word and helping with donation collections. 

VMGR pilots and aircrew have flown the  Marine Corps KC-130 millions of miles and millions of flight hours over sixty two years. They have performed their missions magnificently around the globe in peace and in war. During that time, we have lost eight KC-130’s with tragic incident fatalities. We have also had some close calls reminding us of the inherent dangers of the mission and the risks taken by all who have operated the aircraft and the great sacrifices of the families of the fallen.

We think it's time we appropriately honor them!

Proposed VMGR Memorial Monument

(Note: All designs are purely conceptual.)

THE MEMORIAL MONUMENT: Above is an artist rendering created by our MCATA Historian Alan Stinar. The memorial monument will be made of black granite and will have the bureau number of each aircraft lost with the number of crew and passenger fatalities. On the back of the memorial will be the individual names of each of those crewmembers. The memorial monument's dimensions are: (Approximately) 7 feet high, 3 feet 4 inches wide and 1 foot 3 inches deep.  Here are links to another artist's rendering showing the actual planned dimensions:

Plaque Front G.pdf

Memorial Front G.pdf

Pedestal Back G.pdf

Pedestal Side G.pdf

THE SEMPER FIDELIS MEMORIAL PARK: The memorial will be placed in the Semper Fidelis Memorial Park. The Semper Fidelis Memorial Park is an ADA-compliant paved walkway dedicated to the service of Marines today as well as the past. It is part of the National Museum of the Marine Corps and has forty memorials and commemorative bricks along the paths that crisscross each other. Included among those memorials are the statues of Iron Mike and Molly Marine.  To learn more about the park and the monuments already there, go to this link:

https://www.marineheritage.org/semperfidelismemorialpark.html

HOW CAN YOU HELP?  The memorial, when completed will cost $171,500. That includes the cost of materials, design, production, installation and ongoing maintenance. Design phase will take approximately 6-8 weeks. There is an $8,500 deposit required to start that will go the overall cost of the memorial. Once the memorial is approved for construction, 8-10 months will be required for manufacturing. The Semper Fidelis Memorial Park is scheduled to be completed in approximately 18 months. We will post our progress toward our fundraising goal regularly. 

OPTIONAL WAYS TO DONATE:

METHOD 1:

First, anyone can donate any amount by going online. The easiest way is using a credit card. at the link below. 

MCATA Donations

METHOD 2: Or, you can send a check to the MCATA Treasurer at the following address. Note: If you fill out your donation online the website will generate an invoice you can then print and send with your check.  This eases the process at our end. 

MCATA Treasurer

c/o John Klossner

4 Loch Lane

Walden NY 12586

If sending a check be sure to specify on the check for “VMGR Monument Fund”. 

METHOD 3: Donating stock is a great way to contribute. Advantage: Donated stock is not subject to capital gains taxes and can additionally by written off as a donation on your taxes.

Online: Donate Stock to MCATA

Paper Forms: MCATA Stock Donation Paper Form.pdf

Note: When using the paper form, you MUST indicate the donation is for Marine Corps Air Transport Association for Stockdonator to process the donation correctly.

Method 4:

METHOD 5: MCATA will also be offering customized bricks that will be featured along the pathway at or near the memorial. The bricks will be available for purchase from MCATA and will be installed with the memorial in the Semper Fidelis Memorial Park expansion. Brick costs:

1. $1,000.00 each for inner ring closest to the memorial.
2. $500.00 each for next ring out from the memorial.
3. $350.00 each for the outer most ring.
4. Total of approximately 270 bricks will be available.

Note: Bricks cost association $210 each. 

These bricks may be customized with your name, rank, crew position etc. or will be a great way to memorialize and honor other VMGR friends who are no longer with us and who made great contributions to our community. You can order these bricks online at the same donation link above, or you can download and print a paper form to order these bricks at this link:  

Use paper order form: Brick Purchase Form (Final).pdf

Order bricks online: https://www.mcata.com/Donate

If you have questions, please address them to VMGRMemorial@MCATA.com.

PLEASE HELP US MEMORIALIZE THOSE WHO HAVE SACRIFICED ALL IN SERVICE TO OUR VMGR COMMUNITY, OUR CORPS AND OUR COUNTRY AND HONOR THOSE FAMILIES WHO SACRIFICED SO MUCH!

Semper Fi, 

The VMGR Memorial Monument Committee