‘Returning Home’ statue unveiled in Dana Point park hits heartstrings among many

Sutton Betti, a Marine’s son and bronze sculptor, has devoted his artistry to creating monuments that honor and reflect the sacrifices military families make for those who keep the nation safe.

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So when Terry Rifkin, a founding member and past president of the Dana Point Fifth Marine Regiment Support Group, approached him about creating a bronze sculpture for Dana Point’s Heritage Park reflecting just that sentiment, it was a perfect match for both.

“I don’t think there’s any sculptures out there honoring the military families,” said Betti, who recently drove the piece from Loveland, Colorado, where he spent a year creating it, to Dana Point. “Nothing like that had been done that I’ve seen. That was a big inspiration, honoring the families.”

His piece “Returning Home,” officially dedicated at the Dana Point park on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in a ceremony attended by a couple hundred people, including military families, veterans, residents, city officials and Marines from Camp Pendleton’s 5th Marine Regiment, captures the moment a Marine reunites with his wife and child as he runs into their open arms after a deployment; it’s one of two pieces Betti has created at veteran memorial sites and parks nationwide. This is his first piece in California.

Two memorial benches surround the sculpture along with 111 bronze plaques and brick pavers, each telling a unique story of love, service, and sacrifice. Each piece was donated to help fund the monument and to pay tribute to their loved ones.

“Look closely at the monument; she is literally jumping into her husband’s arms, her shoes have been left behind on the ground in her rush to reach him,” Rifkin said, describing the piece to those attending.

“That small detail, that instant when the long ordinary days of waiting give way to the overwhelming joy of reunion, and look at the daughter clinging tightly to her father’s leg; she represents the youngest of the military family. Children who feel the family’s absence and carry emotions they are too young to understand or express,” Rifkin continued. “And then there is the poppy held against the Marine’s back by his wife; it connects the joyful moment of coming home to remembrance of those who served before, with the sacrifices they made, and with those whose homecoming never came.”

“There is so much held in this sculpture,” she added. “Family, joy, love, remembrance, sacrifice. And here joy and sacrifice exist side by side, and that’s why ‘Returning Home’ is not simply a monument to the military; it is a monument to military families because service is never carried by one person alone. Behind every Marine, soldier, airman, guardian, or Coast Guardian is someone who loves him.”

Betti said he often pairs this piece with a second sculpture of a Gold Star mother kneeling and holding a folded flag as a “before and after” scene.

And, though Rifkin and the support group opted for the sole “Returning Home” piece, it was as though the artist’s full message was still on display, as Wednesday’s dedication also paid respects to “Remembering Our Fallen,” a national traveling memorial honoring more than 5,500 military members who have made the ultimate sacrifice since Sept. 11, 2001.

The panels bearing the names of those who have died arrived at the park overlooking Dana Point Harbor on Tuesday and will stand near the new monument through Friday. Anduril Industries sponsored the traveling piece.

“As we celebrate those who’ve come home, we must also remember those who never did,” Rifkin said. “We cannot fully understand the joy of homecoming without acknowledging the cost of service. We cannot say we’re grateful without remembering those who paid the highest price.”

Rifkin began planning and working on the idea to get the monument into Dana Point five years ago, teaming up with then-City Manager Mike Killebrew and Matt Sinacori, the city’s director of Public Works and Engineering, to help make it happen.

She credited the city and the group’s many volunteers and countless donors, who she said were responsible for the shared success. The support group raised $130,000 through naming plaques and benches, and the city contributed $110,000 toward the installation.

The volunteer group, formed in 2004, is active year-round and supports Camp Pendleton’s “Fighting Fifth” regiment by raising money for single Marines to attend the Marine Corps Ball, hosting baby showers for expecting families and providing a Thanksgiving feast for single Marines in the barracks.

The support group, which received the prestigious national Spirit of Hope Award in 2021, has also built and paid for monuments in the 5th Marine Regiment Memorial Garden at Camp Pendleton and raises money for base projects, most recently to spruce up and renovate the Lt. Vincent R. Capodanno Memorial Chapel near the garden. There are monuments there for those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Purple Heart memorial and a monument to Marines who died in Vietnam.

“We’re the glue,” Rifkin said. “It’s been our honor. The Fifth Marine Regiment is the most highly decorated in the Marine Corps.”

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On Wednesday, she was moved to tears as she detailed the group’s effort. The moment grew even more poignant because the monument’s dedication coincided with the return of Marines from the 5th Regiment, who came back this weekend from a 7-month deployment to Australia.

Col. George Flynn, the regiment’s commanding officer, was among them and was grateful to be back.

“If someone asked me what coming home looks like, I’d say ‘it looks just like that’. And if they asked me what coming home feels like, again, I’d say, ‘it looks like that,’” Flynn said of the statue.

“I often talk to the Marines about knowing what you’re fighting for and understanding your sense of purpose,” he said, noting the sculpture perfectly captures the moment the two halves of military life rejoin.

He added that the monument honors three pillars of national defense: those who serve, the families who wait and worry, and the community that stands beside them.

“Returning Home honors the men and women across all branches of our Armed Forces, who raise their right hand and step forward and defend this great nation,” he said. “For the Marines and sailors of the Fifth Marine Regiment just down the road aboard Camp Pendleton, that call frequently takes us from the people and places we cherish most. We deploy into harm’s way with the memories of home and the promise of returning to it.”

“As I sit here, proudly back home with members of the Fifth Marine Regiment, in my heart and my mind are our Marines from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines that are still forward deployed in CENTCOM area of operation (Middle East) and fellow Marines from 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines who are on their way there right now. We think of them today.”

Military service, he added, never belongs to one person alone.

“Behind every single one is a family that also serves,” he said. ‘Returning Home’ rightfully places those at the center of the story, their lives forever changed by the uniform, and their sacrifice is as real as the service members’.”

After the dedication, donors, veterans, volunteers, and Marines gathered around the statue, read plaques and bricks, and admired Betti’s work.

Among them was Kathy Lynch, a Laguna Niguel resident, who dedicated a plaque on the memorial wall on behalf of her cousin, Cpl. Kurt Snyder, who served at Camp Pendleton, and signed up just after 9/11. The plaque listed his name and the names of nine Marines he served with.

Lynch said she never really understood what Marines go through until Snyder enlisted. She opened her home first to him and another Marine buddy on weekends. The two grew to eight, and the number kept growing. As they deployed to Iraq in the early years of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Lynch said it helped her understand more what service means. She formed friendships with the families of other Marines who came to her home, and through that, the network of people affected grew.

For Snyder, Lynch’s home was where he built friendships with other Marines he might never have otherwise gotten to know so well, and it gave some a place to think about when they were deployed.

“I know many people who didn’t have anyone to come home to, too,” he said. “A lot of those paths would never have crossed otherwise.”

And for Betti, who didn’t serve, he said, his art is one way he can acknowledge what military families do and his own family.

“My dad did a lot for veterans,” he said, adding that he didn’t realize how much until his father, who served during Vietnam, died and dozens of veterans showed up to his service. “It’s a deeply personal thing, and I’m really passionate about it. I love that I can do this and honor them.”

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