Frank C. Gaylord II passes
Bobo sends us the sad news that Frank C. Gaylord II passed at the age of 93. He is best known as the sculptor of the figures at the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Reportedly, the faces of the men were actually taken from Gaylord’s sketches of the people he served with during World War II as a paratrooper with the 17th Airborne Division.
Born March 9, 1925, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, he was the son of Richard and Thelma (Hamilton) Gaylord.
Frank graduated from Washington Irving High School in Clarksburg. Next, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a paratrooper in the 17th Airborne Division, Company C, 513th Parachute Infantry based out of Fort Meade, Maryland, before being honorably discharged with the Bronze Star for Valor Combat Infantryman’s Badge and Combat Paratroopers Badge. After his discharge, he went to Temple University on the GI Bill where he graduated in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.
Category: We Remember
Probably a participant in Operation VARSITY, one of the bloodiest (and today completely forgotten) Aliied airborne operations of World War II…
R.I.P…
73 years ago today, 24 March 1945.
Thanks for the reference to Operation Varsity. I went and looked it up.
Let us remember and never forget.
I always thought the Korean War Memorial was one of the most poignant ever made, though it never appears in popular media. A lot of GIs and Marines who are visibly cold, tired, and miserable, it always seemed to sum up Korea pretty well. It’s no surprise the designer was a combat vet.
Someday, when I take my kids to DC, it’s one of the first things I want to show them.
RIP, Mr. Gaylord. Your sculptures within the Korean War Memorial are so realistic that they virtually come alive as you look at them. Seeing them on March 17, 2007 around dawn with 4 inches of snow on them will never be forgotten. Thank you.
R.I. P Sir, enjoy the company of your Comrades in Valhalla and thank you for what you left us.
I was in D.C. in 2000 for a reunion of my Infantry Regiment. I will never forget when I first saw the Korean War Memorial. It was after a brief thunder storm and it looked like steam rising from the ground around the statues. It was an awesome site and very moving.
Rest in peace Mr. Gaylord. Thank you for all you gave.
Thank you Mr Gaylord for your service and later artistry.
One of my coworkers did a couple assignements in the DC area, and he tells me the Korean Memorial is really spectacular after dark.
My kids and I tried to see it after dark on our last trip to the area, but being just after Memorial Day it never got dark enough before we had to leave.
As an aside, if you find yourself at the Lincoln Meorial Korean memorial end of the National Mall. It is actually shorter to walk across the bridge to the Arlingotn Metro station than it is to head the other way and catch the Metro at the Smithsonian stop.
Try it at dawn.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Gaylord.
A haunting memorial, I took my Korean War Vet father there before his death. December 22, 1999, day of my father’s death, his burial flag was presented at and flown above the memorial by the CMC of EODMU TEN (under a short objection of the NPS) and delivered in time for his funeral.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Gaylord. And, thank you.
Rest in Peace.
My dad was one of a kind. Thank you for your kind words.
Veterans are an amazing conglomerate of people. Here’s a man who went badass and, when his service was ended, majored in Fine Arts at Temple. Rest in peace, Paratrooper and Artist Frank C. Gaylord, II.