Restore Bulldog Memorial Plaques
Donation protected
The purpose of this Go Fund Me Site is to raise funds to clean and refurbish the plaques on the “Bulldog Memorial” at the Citadel, Charleston, SC. The memorial honors the service of Sam Michael Savas, Jr. (Maj, USA) and his son Sam Michael Savas, III (LT, USN). Sam, Jr. a Citadel graduate, class of 1951, died in 1965 at the age of 37 while serving in Vietnam and he left a widow and two young sons, Sam Michael III, and Joseph. Sam (III), also a Citadel graduate, class of 1979, died in the service of his country, in 1985 at the age of 27 in a helicopter crash at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi Texas.
The memory of Sam (III) is very special to me as I was a young officer stationed at the Naval Hospital in Corpus Christi when the crash occurred that took his life. I was responsible for ensuring the proper preparation of his remains and his transport home to his family for burial. Sam had a wife and a 6 month old baby girl and his death affected me deeply. During my 25 year career in the Navy, I took care of many young sailors, officers, and Marines who died too young, but Sam was my first, and I have never forgotten him.
During a visit to Charleston in May of 2016, I visited the Citadel and the Bulldog Memorial for the first time. It disturbed me to see that the plaques bearing the names of Sam and his father were showing so much wear that they were barely readable. (The photo represents the "before and after" photos of the memorial and shows the current poor state of the plaques) In the past, the care of this memorial was always left to the cadets of the Citadel, and there are photos of Sam (III), as a young cadet polishing the brass bulldog which, at the time, memorialized only his father. Times have changed. The cadets no longer maintain this memorial and the college does not have the funds or personnel to maintain or refurbish it. I found a company in Charleston who can do the job—Worth Monument Company—and am seeking to raise the money needed to fund this project. I think it is a modest amount.
A memorial is only meaningful if people can read the inscriptions which contain the essence of the memorial itself and the very special individuals who are honored by it.
I have fronted the funds for this project and am offering this opportunity to others who care to contribute . Please help, in any way you can, to the restoration of this memorial, which had meant so much not just to family and friends of the two men memorialized upon it, but to all of us who seek to remember and honor those men and women who, dying an untimely death, gave their lives in the service of this great country.
Thank you!
Sam Michael Savas, III LT, USN.
Sam Michael Savas, Jr., Maj, USA
The memory of Sam (III) is very special to me as I was a young officer stationed at the Naval Hospital in Corpus Christi when the crash occurred that took his life. I was responsible for ensuring the proper preparation of his remains and his transport home to his family for burial. Sam had a wife and a 6 month old baby girl and his death affected me deeply. During my 25 year career in the Navy, I took care of many young sailors, officers, and Marines who died too young, but Sam was my first, and I have never forgotten him.
During a visit to Charleston in May of 2016, I visited the Citadel and the Bulldog Memorial for the first time. It disturbed me to see that the plaques bearing the names of Sam and his father were showing so much wear that they were barely readable. (The photo represents the "before and after" photos of the memorial and shows the current poor state of the plaques) In the past, the care of this memorial was always left to the cadets of the Citadel, and there are photos of Sam (III), as a young cadet polishing the brass bulldog which, at the time, memorialized only his father. Times have changed. The cadets no longer maintain this memorial and the college does not have the funds or personnel to maintain or refurbish it. I found a company in Charleston who can do the job—Worth Monument Company—and am seeking to raise the money needed to fund this project. I think it is a modest amount.
A memorial is only meaningful if people can read the inscriptions which contain the essence of the memorial itself and the very special individuals who are honored by it.
I have fronted the funds for this project and am offering this opportunity to others who care to contribute . Please help, in any way you can, to the restoration of this memorial, which had meant so much not just to family and friends of the two men memorialized upon it, but to all of us who seek to remember and honor those men and women who, dying an untimely death, gave their lives in the service of this great country.
Thank you!
Sam Michael Savas, III LT, USN.Sam Michael Savas, Jr., Maj, USAOrganizer
Linda Boris
Organizer
Mays Landing, NJ