MILITARY

Place of reflection

Committee hopes to create plaza, information panels for First Ashore statue

By MICHELLE DELANEY

The “First Ashore” monument, unveiled on Veterans Day 2016 in Glorietta Bay Park, commemorates the elite men of the Navy’s Underwater Demolition Teams of World War II. Now, a group of retired Navy SEALs would like to improve the area immediately surrounding the statue.

The monument features the “Naked Warrior,” the nickname for the frogmen who swam into enemy waters wearing only face masks, swim trunks and fins. The First Ashore-Naked Warrior Enhancement Project committee wants to create a plaza surrounding the statue so the area can be better utilized for events as well as to spotlight the history of the Coronado-based Underwater Demolition Teams, or UDTs, and SEALs.

“Coronado is the perfect location for such a monument. It is the headquarters of Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the West Coast SEAL teams and Special Boat Teams,” said committee member Don Crawford, who is a retired UDT and SEAL team member.

The project, which the committee hopes will be completed early next year, would move the existing sidewalk and benches to create a plaza with stone benches and a flagpole adjacent to the Naked Warrior. Five etched, polished-granite exhibition panels will be designed to form a semicircle around the monument plaza and trace

A rendering of the proposed plaza at the First Ashore monument.

the history of local Naval Special Warfare units.

Naval Special Warfare has an extensive history in Coronado.

At the end of World War II, the majority of UDTs returned to Naval Amphibious Training Base (now Naval Amphibious Base) Coronado. The teams were downsized and two UDTs remained based in Coronado.

During the Korean War, the Coronado-based UDTs conducted a variety of missions including demolition raids, countermine operations and reconnaissance for the Inchôn landing, an amphibious landing that reversed the tide of the war.

To meet the need for an unconventional maritime force, SEAL Team One was established in Coronado in January 1962. SEALs were critical during the Vietnam War, conducting counterguerrilla missions in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam.

In 1983, all UDTs were redesignated as SEAL teams or SEAL delivery vehicle teams. Today, there are four SEAL teams stationed in Coronado. Members of local SEAL teams served in Kuwait, the Gulf War and Afghanistan.

The First Ashore monument is one of four bronze-cast Naked Warrior statues by sculptor John Seward Johnson II. The first monument was erected in Fort Pierce, Florida, in 1988. Subsequent installations — in Coronado, Oahu, Hawaii and Virginia Beach, Virginia — were cast from the same mold. Each statue is mounted on a horned scully, blocks on concrete with protruding steel beams that were placed near land to damage the hull of any ship coming ashore.

The monument has become a touchstone for Coronado's SEAL community and a place where residents can reflect on Navy service members, said Crawford, a historian of Naval Special Warfare.

“Coronado history and Navy history are intertwined. The historical significance of those First Ashore will be highlighted with the enhancement project but even more importantly, it will provide a desirable place for Coronado residents, military and visitors alike to gather in an educational and historic setting,” he said.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was estimated to cost $300,000. Partial funding has been secured and the group is hoping to raise an additional $110,000. Because the monument is on city land, the city of Coronado will oversee the project.

Contributions are managed through the nonprofit Navy Seal Foundation. For more information or to donate, go to firstashore.org. ■

Michelle Delaney is a freelance writer.

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