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After leaving Perry I drove on to Tallahassee, Florida's capitol and home of the state Vietnam Memorial. Across from the "Old" courthouse, it stands on Monroe Street, as a formidable reminder of the 1942 Floridians who perished and the 83 still unaccounted for at this time. It is interesting to note that the number of KIA's has changed since the memorial was built, as you may be able to see in the pic of the very well worn dedication marker. This is not an uncommon event and is often seen at these sites.
There is very little info. here. The names are etched on the facing, inside, lower walls and the huge flag makes beautiful reflections on the walls.
One interesting, and so far unique, feature is that the information on the dedication stone is also given in braille. The site must be visited by many people as the etched words and the braille are well worn from being touched by so many hands.
One thing that interested me was, when I was at the hotel, before I had seen the site I asked exactly where it was located. The woman at the desk knew just where it was and said that they often use it as a landmark for people coming from the airport. They tell their guests to "just turn at the big flag." This was a pleasant surprise! You would be surprised to discover how many people don't have the slightest idea where our memorials are.
There is no "old courthouse" in Tallahassee. That is Florida's capitol building, built upon statehood in 1845. Florida's Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands atop the hill that has held Florida's capitol since 1824 and the memorial is an exercise in vertical scale, standing 65 feet tall with a 40 foot long U.S. flag mounted between its two columns. The flag itself ends far above visitor's heads... but by cramming in a tiny photo with no human scale reference points you have minimized it's visual impact and by burying its photo in the midst of a number of other memorials around Florida you have minimized its importance. It's your website and you can do anything you want on it; but I really wish you wouldn't do THAT to Florida's official state memorial!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the additional info. I read or was told that it was the "old court house" so I am happy for the correction. I am not sure how I might have posted it differently as the blog site controls some of that and all pictures on the site enlarge when clicked. I might, also, note that all the pics on that page are of the Tallahassee site. I certainly meant no disrespect as my whole purpose is to visit, photograph, and honor as many sites as I can.
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