I have always had a bit of a morbid fascination with reading the dedications on memorial benches. Then due to a chance conversation on twitter I realised that I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed doing this.
That’s it, from there this blog was born. It’s a place to share content for no reason other than enjoyment. I’m going to add photos of memorial benches and the views from then, as and when I can.
If you would like to contribute please email your photos to memorialbench@gmail.com – no rules, all contributions very welcome and please join the conversation over on twitter.
Thanks for popping by, George
PS This blog was started in April 2011 and in August 2013 I wrote a little more about the thinking behind it here. Please do keep sharing your benches, people’s contributions really help to add different perspectives and geographies. Thank you.
In memory of... 
I am very honored that you wish to add my brother’s memorial to your collection. A little back story: It was late July and Michael had just turned 18, joined the Coast Guard, and was working that day for Rockaway, Oregon’s “Catch the Wind Kite Shop” by flying their giant wind sock on the beach. There was a large family reunion and a few of the kids and young adults were swimming in the ocean. A 20 year old young man found himself caught in the riptide and Michael saw his family form a human chain in effort to rescue the young man. Without a second thought, Michael anchored the wind sock and jumped into the ocean. He swam along one side of the rip tide and yelled at the young man to swim across the rip tide and not against it. The young man did as he was told, but he swam to the opposite side my brother was on. The Coast Guard ship showed up and rescued the young man, and when they took him back to shore, his father asked where the other young man was. He explained how a stranger had swum out and told his son how to get out of the rip tide and could they go get him. The coast guard went back out, but by the time they reached where the father had explained Michael was, my brother had succumbed to hypothermia and sank to the bottom of the ocean. The coast guard searched by air and sea for hours afterward, and the copter had caught site of him lying at the bottom of the ocean, but by the time the water craft got there he had drifted.
The Coast guard tried for three days, and finally had to give up. In September, an unfortunate jogger running along the south jetty had the sad luck of finding Michael’s remains washed up on shore. He was cremated and was given a memorial by the Coast Guard where he, among a few others, received the Carnegie Medal of honor for saving the life of a stranger.
So there you have it. Here are the three pictures…the day he died, his memorial plaque, and the view from his bench at Rockaway Beach, Oregon. Thank you for your appreciation for a young man who gave his l
Sincerely,
Lorri
PS. I will post all three relevant photos on your site on Twitter
Thanks Lorri, what a wonderful selfless man your brother was. I am so sorry for your family’s loss. I’ll share this information on the post – thank you for sharing it with us, George