Reefs of Remembrance: Honoring Heroes Beneath The Surface

This past Tuesday, our team had the pleasure of attending the Oceans Innovation Conference at UNC Wilmington. While there, we met Thomas Marcinowski, a proud veteran and the Founder and CEO of Veterans Memorial Reef.

Veterans Memorial Reef is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring veterans in a unique and meaningful way. This organization commemorates each fallen hero by embedding their ashes in an environmentally friendly memorial marker, which is then placed in the ocean to honor their legacy and contribute to the enhancement of our reef ecosystem.

The memorial process takes place over three days:

Day One: Family and friends transfer their loved one’s remains into an aquatic urn, which is then incorporated into a 1,200-pound memorial marker. Each marker can be personalized with mementos, handwritten notes, and handprints.

Day Two: An outdoor ceremony is held to honor each veteran individually, including military honors when appropriate.

Day Three: The memorial markers are transported five miles off the coast of Carolina Beach to their final resting place on the designated Veterans Memorial Reef, where they are positioned facing sunrise.

We are grateful for the work Thomas and his team do to honor our fallen heroes and allow them to make one final act of valor. If you’d like to learn more about this organization or how to get involved, click here.

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