1Tallahassee's National Cemetery has several monuments honoring various military branches. Now there's a new monument that pays respects to the Veterans of Foreign Wars who rest nearby.
Monday morning's monument dedication ceremony included the historic strains of fife and drum.
Giving the keynote address was a famous veteran of the U.S. Marines. Dr. Norm Thagard who went on to become an astronaut and was the co-founder of Tallahassee's Challenger Learning Center. He supports groups like the VFW, but acknowledges those who've most recently served don't join these organizations like previous generations of vets.
"Things like a Vietnam War, Korean War, World War II, you're bound to have a lot of support because they were national and I don't think this present time promotes that sort of feeling of national unity and wanting to join an organization like that."
Still, Thagard says veterans' support groups like the VFW continue to provide needed services and fellowship for millions of vets nationwide. The new VFW monument was a joint project of the District 2 VFW posts in North Florida from: Monticello, Tallahassee, Crawfordville, Jasper, Perry, Bristol and Quincy.
