A TRIBUTE TO A TRIBUTE
By Richard Lee King
A short time ago, my sweetie and I had about an hour to kill and decided that we would stop by the Veteran’s Memorial Park, located on Veterans Highway in Port St. Lucie, FL. Neither of us had ever visited it and we thought this would provide a good opportunity to do so. I’ve never “kilt an hour” more productively. To my way of thinking, this memorial is probably one of the more honorable things that have ever been done in the Treasure Coast area. Our little visit was definitely one of the best decisions we have made in recent memory. What an impressive memorial we have right here in our backyard. I have to say however, to be completely honest, you simply cannot do it justice in only one hour.
As you walk from the parking lot, you encounter tributes to all five branches of the military, located around a meeting area with bench seating. It’s an area where one could conceivably assume that many memorial services have transpired. There are plaques commemorating the formation of all 5 branches of our military, as well as the emblem for each branch encased in concrete at each of the five corners of the seating area. This area is located directly in front of a large, lighted United States flag, which one would assume is on display 24/7/365.
Other displays include a Korean War Memorial, a memorial honoring the veterans of WW II and one honoring all combat wounded veterans. Additionally there is a wall, which would appear to be a replica of the Vietnam Veterans wall in Washington DC.
We found this to be a very worthwhile memorial park, of which the City of Port St. Lucie can and should take a great deal of pride. With very little effort this little park could conceivably become one of the more sought out tourist attractions in this area. Were I a “snowbird” coming to this area to take in a Mets ballgame, or any of the other local attractions and were I somehow to be made aware of this magnificent little park, I believe it would have a prominent place on my itinerary.
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Gramps use’ta say
R.L.King2012 #398
About: Aging
“The biggest problem with old age is
ya ain’t never gittin over it,
…there jist ain’t no cure.”
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Am I The Only One 