The Veterans Memorial Wall is located at 1145 East Adams Street, adjacent to EverBank Stadium in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. The quarter-million dollar monument was dedicated in November, 1995 and serves as a tribute to more than 1,500 Jacksonville area American war heroes. The outdoor memorial was promoted as "the largest of its kind" and "the only wall that honors veterans from all six [service] branches" (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine). [1] The 65-foot (20 m) long black granite monument contains the names of servicemen and women from World War I through Operation Desert Storm and the current war on terrorism. In front of the wall stands a torch with an eternal flame.
The Wall is the site of the city's Memorial Day ceremony, when any local servicewoman and serviceman who lost their lives in the prior year are honored and their names added to the obelisque. [2]
Every Memorial Day since the monument was completed, a group of family, friends and classmates of Navy pilot Scott Speicher gather at the wall. Speicher, who grew up in Jacksonville, was shot down on the first night of Operation Desert Storm in 1991. His remains went unrecovered until August 2, 2009. [3]
When the Wall was built, it was located just eight feet (2.4 m) from the exterior wall of the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and extraordinary measures were taken to protect it when the Coliseum was demolished in 2003. When all of the debris was removed and the site restored to grade, the Memorial was surrounded by a 2-acre (8,100 m2) walking park.
An additional 2,500-pound (1,130 kg) base and 5,000-pound (2,270 kg) panel were added in 2005 to provide space for those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it became clear that the single panel would not be sufficient, based on the course of the war, so one more was added prior to the Memorial Day ceremony in 2010, the 15th anniversary of the monument. Ten names were added in 2010, four of which are on the most recent panel, which brings the total number to over 1,600. Four more names were added in 2014. [4]
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, commonly called the Vietnam Memorial, is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The two-acre (8,100 m2) site is dominated by two black granite walls engraved with the names of those service members who died or remain missing as a result of their service in Vietnam and South East Asia during the war. The Memorial Wall was designed by American architect Maya Lin and is an example of minimalist architecture. The Wall, completed in 1982, has since been supplemented with the statue Three Soldiers in 1984 and the Vietnam Women's Memorial in 1993.
USS Saratoga (CV/CVA/CVB-60), was the second of four Forrestal-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1950s. Saratoga was the sixth U.S. Navy ship, and the second aircraft carrier, to be named for the Battles of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War.
The United States Marine Corps War Memorial is a national memorial located in Arlington Ridge Park in Arlington County, Virginia. The memorial was dedicated in 1954 to all Marines who have given their lives in defense of the United States since 1775. It is located in Arlington Ridge Park within the George Washington Memorial Parkway, near the Ord-Weitzel Gate to Arlington National Cemetery and the Netherlands Carillon. The memorial was turned over to the National Park Service in 1955.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located in Washington, D.C.'s West Potomac Park, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and just south of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. It memorializes those who served in the Korean War (1950–1953). The national memorial was dedicated in 1995. It includes 19 statues representing U.S. military personnel in action. In 2022, the memorial was expanded to include a granite memorial wall, engraved with the names of U.S. military personnel who died in the war.
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Michael Scott Speicher was a naval aviator in the United States Navy who was shot down over Iraq during the Persian Gulf War becoming the first American combat casualty of the war. His fate was not known until 2 August 2009 when the U.S. Navy reported that Speicher's remains had been found in Iraq by the United States military. The official cause of death was "homicide by undetermined means" and DNA testing showed survival after his crash. He is also the most recent American to have been shot down in air-to-air combat.
The Mark 77 bomb (MK-77) is a United States 750-pound (340 kg) air-dropped incendiary bomb carrying 110 U.S. gallons of a fuel gel mix which is the direct successor to napalm.
Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany is a United States Marine Corps base located just outside Albany, Georgia. The primary mission of the units on the base is to rebuild and repair ground combat and combat support equipment and to support installations on the East Coast of the United States. Today one of MCLB Albany's most important facilities is the Marine Corps Logistics Command's Maintenance Center. The only other facility of this kind is located at MCLB Albany's sister installation, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California. The base comprises more than 3,300 acres (13 km2) and in 2002 employed more than 2,400 civilians along with a complement of 600 Marines. One of the Corps' major commands, Marine Corps Logistics Command, is based at MCLB Albany. The command also encompasses activities at bases in Barstow, California, and Jacksonville, Florida.
The Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum was a multi-purpose arena located in Jacksonville, Florida. Built in 1960 and known as "northern Florida's most historic concert venue", it was home to most of the city's indoor professional sports teams and it hosted various concerts, circuses, and other events. It was demolished in 2003 and replaced with the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its heritage organizations. The Memorial is located in Arlington County, Virginia, on the former grounds of the Navy Annex near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. The Memorial is southwest of the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Joyce Street and is accessible from the north side of Columbia Pike. It was the last project of American architect James Ingo Freed with the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.
Majid al Tamimi Airbase, officially known as the Tikrit Air Academy and formerly as Al Sahra Airfield is an air installation near Tikrit in northern Iraq. The installation is approximately 170 kilometers north of Baghdad and 11 kilometers west of the Tigris River. Prior to 2003, Al Sahra Airfield was the main base of the Iraqi Air Force Air Academy. The Marines from Task Force Tripoli captured the base from the Iraqi Army during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and turned it over to the United States Army who used it as the headquarters of the United States Division–North. The airfield is served by two main runways measuring 9,600 feet (2,900 m) long with a shorter runway measuring 7,200-foot (2,200 m). The Americans named the airfield after Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a United States Navy pilot who was killed in action in Iraq during the Gulf War.
Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17), is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.
The First Division Monument is located in President's Park, south of State Place Northwest, between 17th Street Northwest and West Executive Avenue Northwest in Washington, DC, United States. The Monument commemorates those who died while serving in the 1st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army of World War I and subsequent wars.
Attack Squadron 46 was an attack squadron of the United States Navy that was active during the Cold War. VA-46 was deactivated as part of the post-Cold War drawdown of forces on 30 June 1991.
The Beirut Memorial is a memorial to the 241 American peacekeepers—220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers—killed in the October 23, 1983 Beirut barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. It is located outside the gate of Camp Gilbert H. Johnson, a satellite camp of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, in Jacksonville, North Carolina. It is the site of an annual commemoration of the victims of the suicide attack that took their lives.
Alpha Company is a United States Marine Corps unit based in Rochester, New York and a component of the Anti-Terrorism Battalion, 4th Marine Division. Before being attached to the Anti-Terrorism Battalion, the Rochester Marine unit was assigned to the 8th Tank Battalion. Alpha Company has been deployed multiple times, supporting operations related to the War on Terror.
Joe "Tiger" Patrick II is a Peace Dale, Rhode Island Army veteran. During his almost 10 years in uniform, Patrick served in Operation Desert Storm. After the 9/11 attacks, Patrick volunteered for three weeks at Ground Zero. During the time at Ground Zero, Patrick developed an affinity for firefighters. In 2011 Patrick completed a memorial walk. The purpose was to honor the families and loved ones of those lost, as well as the first responders in the 9/11 attacks. Patrick has walked across the United States to increase awareness of the U.S. service member casualties resulting from the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the journey took approximately six months and began in April 2013.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial in London commemorates British citizens, including both military personnel and civilians, who participated in the Gulf War, the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War. In these three conflicts, which took place between 1990 and 2015, 682 British service personnel died. A work by the sculptor Paul Day, the memorial is situated in Victoria Embankment Gardens, between the River Thames and the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence, in the vicinity of monuments commemorating the Second World War and the Korean War.
The Veterans Memorial Park located in Las Cruces, New Mexico was constructed by the Las Cruces Home Builders Association under the direction of the City and was dedicated May 5, 1999. In honor and memorial of the men and women who fought and served in the United States armed forces and in particular, those who served from Las Cruces area, the Veterans Memorial Park exhibits monuments to honor their sacrifices made over the course of history. The history recognized begins from as early as the American Revolutionary War to the present day. The Veterans Memorial Park is organized and guided with a trail that directs visitors to the various monuments scattered throughout the park.
The Circle of Heroes is an underwater military veterans memorial 10 miles off the coast of Honeymoon Island State Park in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the first underwater veterans memorial.
Media related to Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Wall at Wikimedia Commons