Key West Veterans Memorial
Key West, Florida
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Clear, 82°
“All Gave Some, Some Gave All”
*I’m trying to catch up on some of my posts but am running behind due to family matters so haven’t posted in a bit. I should catch up shortly.
Going south on highway US1 about a mile from the “end of the road”, as you approach Old Town in Key West there is a nice memorial on the left side of the road. It is a Vietnam Living Memorial in the Veterans Memorial Garden.
There are three sections to the gardens. The main section honors the local Key West soldiers who lost their lives in Vietnam with a wall listing all the names of the “conchs” (Key West locals). The monument, “All Gave Some, Some Gave All” lists Honor Roll names in memory of those who served in Vietnam.
The next section is a walkway with plaques depicting all of the different wars from the Spanish-American to the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan conflicts. Each plaque gives information about the specific war and lists how many died in each conflict.
The last is a small monument with an M16 bayonet stuck in the ground, a pair of combat boots on each side and a combat helmet placed on the rifle butt.
There is another marker “in memory of the men and women who served in all wars and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice.”
I enjoyed the time walking around the different sections reading the information and seeing the murals or picture plaques giving the statistics of those killed. It is another stark reminder that all wars come with a price to its soldiers and their families along with the communities where they lived before going off to war.
A town of ageing pirates, parrot heads, and freaks of all kinds, Key West may be an American small town that truly seems to honor their veterans both living and dead as there are signs all over town to the military, veterans, and their families.
Key West has always been one of my favorite beach towns since high school that has a kind of magic, nostalgia, and enlightenment for those who visit her. If you have the chance it is worth the time to visit and explore this wonderful city surrounded by the sea while Traveling Life’s Highways.
