Cheyenne SubVets leave lasting mark on city
CHEYENNE – The Cheyenne SubVets have left a lasting mark on the city with the installation of a statue dedicated to generations of sailors.
Members of the organization raised funds to install “The Lone Sailor” statue downtown at the corner of West 23rd Street and Carey Avenue as an extension of the Capitol Avenue Bronze Project.
It is a replica of the life-size senior second class petty officer who sits in the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., an iconic symbol to “honor, recognize and celebrate the men and women of the Sea Services, past, present and future.”
“He has done it all – fired weapons in war, provided humanitarian assistance in far-away lands, been attacked by the enemy and defended our freedom,” according to the U.S. Navy Memorial. “He has made liberty calls in great cities and tiny villages, where he was a tourist, ambassador, adventurer, friend and missionary to those less fortunate. His shipmates remember him with pride and look up to him with respect.”
"The Lone Sailor" has now found a home out West, and it started with Cheyenne SubVets Base Commander Ed Galavotti. He served more than two decades in the Navy and retired as a rank commander, after spending 17 of his service years on five different submarines.
Galavotti told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle at the Saturday statue unveiling that he decided to head the project after meeting Harvey Deselms. They both serve on the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum Board of Directors, and Deselms is an instrumental figure in the bronze project as the curator.
The curator said he would have to fundraise for the statue, but there was a place for it on the streets of Cheyenne when it was ready. Galavotti worked to find sponsors throughout the community for the base and sculpture, and even gained the rights to use the departed sculptor Stanley Bleifeld’s rendition of “The Lone Sailor.”
Galavotti recognized the many organizations and individuals who came together to make the memorial possible, whether it be monetary donations or the rocks to build the statue.
He said he was proud that it was dedicated not to just one individual, but to all those who devoted their lives to the Navy. He said there were many submarines and lives lost in World War II, and the nation continues to lose sailors during their years of service. Galavotti also spoke highly of the individuals who are part of the Cheyenne SubVets, as well as other veterans who served on surface ships who celebrated alongside him at the unveiling.
Deselms has been working on the Capitol Avenue Bronze Project for years, and he attended the dedication with the Cheyenne SubVets to see the fruits of their labor. His project took off in 2021 because there were six people interested in building statues, which led to getting the city involved and a commission being organized.
Every corner of Capitol Avenue has received commitments, and they’ve started filling up intersections of other streets, such as 17th Street and Carey Avenue. Deselms said it is about giving every resident the chance to have an impact on their community.
“We’ve witnessed Cheyenne coming together to get something done for 126 years with Cheyenne Frontier Days,” he said. “We're a community of volunteerism and helping each other, and this is just yet another example of that. They wanted to represent their history of being involved in the Navy and the seafaring military, and it was wonderful to have them get together and make it happen.”
Capitol Avenue Bronze Project Commission Chair Nathaniel Trelease said it’s a collaborative effort, but residents such as Galavotti and his fellow veterans are the reason they have supported the project. He said every honored and cherished memory lives in a faithful heart, and it means a great deal to erect a statue on a corner to tell a story.
“We’re doing this to create more meaning in the community, to celebrate the history of a city, but also a state. One of only 50, the smallest in terms of population, but whose story deserves to be told,” he said. “And when you hear Ed tell his stories or all of these other families, you really just bring those to the attention of the public, and it deepens their understanding of them.”
Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s state government reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25.