Statues of wounded US soldiers scheduled to visit Cayman Brac this month will become part of the Lost City of Atlantis dive site.

The servicemen and women will be visiting the Brac from 24 to 31 March to experience the spectacular scuba diving off the Sister Islands as part of the Underwater Warriors Foundation (UWF) programme.

UWF is an educational organisation that was launched in March 2006 to teach scuba as a therapeutic recreation to wounded soldiers and their family members, and operates without cost to the participants.

The Lost City of Atlantis is a large, underwater, multi-piece sculpture by a local artist, known simply as “Foots”.

So far, Foots has created over 300,000 lbs of sculptures, including columns, archways and the first of two 20-foot Pyramids of Atlantis, which weighs 50,000 lbs.

Phase One is already in position at a dive site called Radar Reef off the north coast of the Brac.
Phase Two is finished and ready to be sunk into position.

The population of the Lost City – including Elders, Sentinels, Prophets, the King and Queen – all resemble real life people, and Foots intends to make images of the soldiers coming to the Brac with the UWF into the Royal Guard of Atlantis.

Foots is already working on the statues and, during the soldiers’ visit to the Brac, he will make molds of their faces and cast replicas to be fitted onto the sculpted bodies.

He has pledged to complete the process before the soldiers leave so they will be able to see the finished statues.

The US-born artist said he is very moved by the courage and sacrifice made by this brave group of people, who risked their lives in service to their country.

“Some of them might not ever be able to walk again, but they’ll always be standing in Atlantis,” said Foots.

According to Melissa Wall, UWF Program Director and Fundraising Coordinator, the soldiers were delighted when they were told about this project and are really looking forward to this trip to the Brac.

“The philosophy of this programme is to heal the body, mind and spirit of soldiers with disabilities. I believe that Foots’ gesture will really boost the morale of these soldiers and be an important component towards helping them rebuild their lives,” she said.

Craig Burhart, an ex-serviceman and owner of Indepth Watersports, the operation that will be diving with UWF, noted that Atlantis is an ideal dive site for beginner divers and a great site for experienced divers who think they’ve seen everything.

“The extraordinary sacrifice these men and women have made deserve special recognition, and the people of Cayman Brac are honoured to have their image in the water surrounding our Island as a permanent reminder of their courage,” said Sister Islands MLA Moses Kirkconnell.

Country singer/songwriter Deborah Allen is spokesperson for UWF and will be coming to the Brac with the group.

They will also be accompanied by renowned underwater videographer John Chatterton, who will be documenting the visit.

Foots plans to make statues of Ms Allen, Mr Chatterton and their spouses, plus Ms Wall and one of the co-founders of UWF, Nancy MacPherson, as well as the soldiers, in order to complete a memorial of this event in his underwater city.