Whenever he comes to Savannah, one of sculptor Kim Brandell's first stops is the World War II Memorial at 102 W. River St. The memorial is a bronze globe split in two and titled "A World Apart."
On his visit in late June, he ran his hands over the hammered surface of the globe and along its edges. He and his wife Rona looked at it from a distance near the water’s edge and from the inside corridor between the two hemispheres. With a sense of pride he said, “It looks like new.”
Brandell is the man who built it. “It was an honor for me to be part of this project. I remember the blustery day it was dedicated, just before Veterans Day in 2010. Over 250 veterans and their families attended, seated for the ceremony by their branches of service. The Marine Corps band played, and the commander of the Third Infantry Division spoke.”
It was a project 10 years in the making. The architectural firm of Gunn and Meyerhoff was instrumental in the revitalization of River Street. So when the Veterans Council of Chatham County asked Eric Meyerhoff to help with designing a memorial to honor those who lost their lives in WWII, he was eager to be of service.
As he thought about the message and the theme of the project, Meyerhoff had the idea to convey that the war was fought on two sides of the globe. That men and women were called to fight in worlds apart, in a European theater and in a Pacific theater. That the world was torn asunder, that lives were torn asunder.
Meyerhoff had seen some of Brandell’s monumental sculptures and felt that he was the artist and craftsman whose strengths perfectly matched the project. Brandell got the commission, to create what would be a memorial with gravity and permanence.
Brandell’s studio in Key Largo, Florida, was too small for the project, so he leased space in a boatyard. It took eight helpers and six months to fabricate the 24-foot diameter globe. It was built in four quarters, so that they could travel on flatbed trucks to Savannah.
Brandell explained that the hemispheres have an extensive interior steel structure. The exterior consists of copper sheets; to those he used oxygen-acetylene torches to melt and puddle bronze brazing rods. The continents were chemically darkened to contrast them from the surrounding seas. The sheets were then welded to the inner steel; fiberglass chopper guns were used to build up a strong inner backing, and the exterior received many coats of acrylic lacquer.
In a sense, the careful construction of the globe mirrors the construction of the 88 Liberty ships built during WWII just a few miles down the Savannah River at Southeastern Shipbuilding. Brandell’s father flew P-51 Mustang fighter planes during the war, and he was very proud that his son was building the “A World Apart” memorial.
Along the walls of the corridor that passes through the globe are engraved the names of the 527 Chatham County citizens who lost their lives in service to the country and the world. Above them hang service medals from the war.
On the benches surrounding the memorial are bronze medallions for each service branch. At the ends of the corridor are plaques of Lady Liberty and the “Four Freedoms” for which the country fought. Around the monument are bricks with the names of those who contributed to the cost of the memorial.
The globe invites tourists to walk through it. Viewed from a distance, the curved earth is dignified. From the inside, surrounded by names, it is solemn. It is a history lesson for many, a personal memory for others.
Meyerhoff died year ago. His friend Don Kole remembered him as “a man with love of family, his craft, his city, and his country.” “What a fitting tribute,” Brandell said. “I hope that one day a plate might be part of the memorial with my name alongside his, as designer and as artist.”
Ben Goggins, a retired marine biologist, lives on Tybee Island. He can be reached at 912-547-3074 or bengoggins9@gmail.com. See more columns by Ben Goggins at SavannahNow.com/lifestyle/.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Sculptor visits Savannah WW II memorial 11 years after dedication
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