01/18/2012
Bachelor Enlisted Quarters Dedicated in Honor of Fallen Marine Lance Corporal Donald J. Hogan
By Lori Ichisaka, Associate Partner, MVE Institutional
MVEI's BEQ 7 at Camp Pendleton renamed Lance Corporal Donald J. Hogan Bachelor Enlisted Quarters
MVEI Release
Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, CA - Today the MVE Institutional-designed BEQ 7 at Camp Pendleton was the backdrop for a moving ceremony honoring the life of a fallen marine.
In architecture school, a common lecture theme was 'the meaning of architecture' where the discussion would inevitably center around a structure's symbolic meaning. Today, MVEI's BEQ 7 has been given a humbling symbolic meaning that will live on as part of the US Marine's history at Camp Pendleton.
On August 27, 2009, Lance Corporal (LCpl) Donald Hogan was killed in action while saving the lives of his fellow marines. Because of his heroism, a posthumous awarding of the Navy's highest honor, the Navy Cross, was presented to his parents by the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus. The Honorable Secretary Mabus also dedicated the three BEQ buildings at the San Mateo site, naming them after the LCpl, noting that LCpl Hogan made three decisions in his life that embodied the ideals of the US Marines:
The first was to serve his country by joining the Marines – something he had wanted to do since he was a young boy. Second, was to volunteer to be a mine sweeper to locate and disarm improvised explosive devices (IED) found along the roadside in Afghanistan. And the third was the action he took when he realized an IED had been activated, pushing a fellow marine to safety and alerting his troop to take cover, seconds before the IED exploded, taking LCpl Hogan's life.
"It is fitting that there are three BEQ buildings – one to symbolize each of the three major decisions LCpl Hogan made in his short 20 year life" said Secretary Mabus.
MVEI is proud to be a part of the design and development team for the new Lance Corporal Donald J. Hogan Bachelor Enlisted Quarters. We are thankful and humbled to be reminded of the true meaning of architecture.
