next we drove up to the west end of Kennedy Blvd where it becomes Memorial highway. there is a tall marble and granite pillar erected there in 1921 with an eagle on top, on the sides are the engraved names of the 105 men (and 1 woman) from tampa and Hillsborough County who were killed in World War I. It appeared there were quite a few possible sets of brothers or cousins lost to the war. We then drove a short distance East on kennedy to the small American Legion cemetery where an identical companion obelisk is located, it originally stood in Hyde Park marking the east end of old Memorial highway. there are several graves of service members going all the way back to WWI and some vets of the Spanish-American War too.

next we drove east on Kennedy to the U. of Tampa campus, where there is a huge artillery gun serving as a Spanish-American War memorial erected in 1927. the gun was supposedly stationed at the mouth of Tampa Bay during that war, but there is some word that this is not the original but is instead a WWI artillery gun swapped out with the original, which was used for scrap for WWII. among the interesting inscriptions on the side: "This war brought the blue of the cold bleak north and the gray of the sunny south into one great brotherhood and liberty to an oppressed people."

on that note, we drove to our final monument visit, downtown in front of the old county courthouse. there is a monument erected in 1911, dedicated to "the patriots of the Confederate States of America." can you imagine-- in 1911, almost 50 years after the war! atop the monument are carvings depicting a southern soldier, first in a strong position of defense, then in tatters and weary-looking as though returning home from the war front. there is a poem engraved on one side dedicated to their memory written by a Catholic nun, i kid you not. on the other side of the sidewalk there, stands another monumebt with plaques dedicated to the memories of those who served in WWI, in WWII, and in the Korean War (no mention of Vietnam so i'm guessing this one is from the late 50's or early 60's).

I believe there is a very large County-sponsored memorial park out near the fairgrounds with individual monuments for each of the major wars involving the USA, perhaps we'll go visit there in July.