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With Loving Hands - We Remember Them

The brick seen in Jeff's photo is a gift from one guy who put his heart and soul into building the second EOD Memorial down at Eglin AFB to another guy who built the first EOD memorial with his own two hands. 

At the 2009 EOD Memorial ceremonies, John (Fraser) learned that Jeff (Edward Jeffords) did not have one of the bricks that were salvaged from the dismantling of the original EOD Memorial up in Indianhead, Maryland.
So, to correct what he believed was an oversight, he gave to Jeff the brick he had displayed in his own "I love me" wall that every retired military man has at home.  He believes Jeff, another one who knows what it was like to put so much of himself into the Memorial, deserved to have one.

Ted McCarley had saved some of those bricks from the dismantled EOD Memorial, shipping them down to Eglin AFB with the last of the stuff they'd packed out to move the Schoolhouse from Indianhead down to Eglin AFB in 1999.  The rest of the bricks apparently were given away as mementos by the CO of the Technology Center in Indianhead to deserving individuals. 

It was under much discord and controversy that the decision was made to move the EOD Memorial down to the new Schoolhouse.  The Schoolhouse personnel had traditionally been responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the Memorial.  Once NAVSCOLEOD was moved, no one would be left to take care of the EOD Memorial in Indianhead.  Hence, NAVSCOLEOD personnel lovingly dismantled the first EOD Memorial and transported the cenotaphs and other significant parts down to the new site at Eglin AFB,
FL.   John ensured that, to provide continuity, two of the bricks from
the original EOD Memorial were entombed into the new one they built at Eglin AFB.

In gifting the brick to Jeff, John enclosed the following letter:

Ed,

  There are few mementos from my military career that mean as much to me as this brick from the original EOD Memorial, but I know it means even more to you.

  The Memorial means so much to all of us, but those of us who have a personal relationship with it have a special attachment to it that others simply cannot understand or appreciate. 

  Forty years ago you built the original Memorial with your own hands.
You touched this brick and gave it life, and for 30 years the original Memorial stood tall in Indian Head so that "We could Remember Them."

  In 1999 as the Commanding Officer of EOD School, I supervised the building of the Memorial that now stands in Ft. Walton Beach, FL.  Never before did I supervise a project with so much love and devotion, just as I know you did as you built the original Memorial.  On the day that the concrete was being poured to create the new Memorial I placed two of the remaining original bricks into the wall so that the original Memorial would live on.  I remember the day well.  It was a beautiful warm Florida day.  The sun was shining and the sound of freedom could be heard coming from the demo range as well as from the Memorial.  I swear I heard, in a soft whisper, the new Memorial say, "Welcome home."

  Ed, enjoy this keepsake as much as I have.  I believe it has finally come full circle and found its rightful place - with the man who gave it life.

Your Friend,

John Fraser

Click here for a slide show of the construction of the first EOD Memorial Wall