Tour Of Honor 2016 North Florida - August 13, 2016
Tour Of Honor: http://www.tourofhonor.com
Viquesney's Doughboy Memorials: http://doughboysearcher.weebly.com/currently-known-viquesney-doughboy-locations.html
FL1 - Florida Sheriffs Memorial Wall
Tallahassee, Florida
2617 Mahan Dr.
GPS: 30.456875, -84.233899
Access: 24/7, unrestricted. Parking is available in several adjoining areas, while lining up directly in front of the memorial might be considered ‘high profile.’
Take a photo similar to the one above, along with rider flag and motorcycle. Refer to RULES 5-7 (http://www.tourofhonor.com/pages/rules.html#rules57) for photo verification. Scorers have final say whether standards are met. More....
The Florida Sheriffs Association established this memorial wall in 2002 to honor the heroes of Sheriffs’ Offices killed in the line of duty. Names are added each April for those who died in the previous year. Tallahassee resident and sculptor Sandy Proctor created a sculpture featuring a bench with a group depicting the wife of a fallen deputy, her small child, a sheriff and fellow deputies facing the curved marble wall engraved with the names of the fallen officers.
FL2 - Union County Veterans Memorial
Lake Butler, Florida
325 W. Main St.
GPS: 30.02315, -82.34087
Access: 24/7, unrestricted. Parking is available directly in front of the memorial, traffic permitting. Close ADA access is available via sidewalk from adjacent NW 3rd Ave.
Take a photo similar to the one above, along with rider flag and motorcycle. Refer to RULES 5-7 (http://www.tourofhonor.com/pages/rules.html#rules57) for photo verification. Scorers have final say whether standards are met. More....
Emblazoned with emblems of the different branches of the military, this monument stands above a stone with the names of local veterans who lost their lives in WWI, WWII, Korea, Lebanon, Vietnam, and Panama (23 U.S. casualties in Panama, according to Wikipedia).
Made in America: Lake Butler was birthplace of Jay North (Dennis the Menace)
FL3 - USS Tang Memorial
Palatka, Florida
100 Memorial Parkway
GPS: 29.64535, -81.62933
Access: 24/7, unrestricted. Nearby parking is available along lightly travelled Memorial Parkway. For ADA access, park along St Johns Ave to the north, then via sidewalk and paved path to the memorial, although it could be a distance.
Take a photo similar to the one above, along with rider flag and motorcycle. Refer to RULES 5-7 (http://www.tourofhonor.com/pages/rules.html#rules57) for photo verification. Scorers have final say whether standards are met. More....
The USS Tang Balao class submarine entered service in 1943 and sank in the Formosa Strait in 1944, a victim of her own malfunctioning torpedo. In that brief time, however, she sank 31 enemy vessels, earning two Presidential Unit Citations and four battle stars. Commander Richard H. O'Kane, washed off the bridge as the ship sank, lost all but eight members of his 89 man crew. Following his release from a Japanese POW camp, O'Kane received the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" during his submarine's final operations against Japanese shipping.
Made in America: There are four E. M. Vequesney Doughboy statues flanking the adjacent US 17 bridge over the St Johns River. Two of those are one-of-a-kind variants, and the Smithsonian lists Gutzon Borglum (Mt Rushmore) as co-artist of the ‘parade rest’ doughboy at the southeast corner of the bridge.
FL4 - Bataan-Corregidor Memorial
Kissimmee, Florida
Lakefront Park
Lakeshore Dr. and Monument Ave.
GPS: 28.29047, -81.40307
Access: 24/7, unrestricted
Parking is available on the street within picture distance of the statue – but if there is no space available, you can park temporarily at the pedestrian crossover for a photo of the back of the memorial, and then walk in for another photo from the front if you like. The walkways to the memorial are ADA compliant.
Take a photo similar to the one above, along with rider flag and motorcycle. Refer to RULES 5-7 (http://www.tourofhonor.com/pages/rules.html#rules57) for photo verification. Scorers have final say whether standards are met. More....
A poignant memory of the siege of Bataan and Corregidor.
Gen. Douglas McArthur and his forces had retreated to the Philippine island of Corregidor and the Bataan Peninsula. From there, American and Filipino forces battled the Japanese for 99 days without resupply until finally the entire 76,000 man Bataan contingent was forced to surrender. The next day began the infamous Bataan Death March, a grueling 65 miles with no food, water, or rest. Reportedly, 10,300 died during the march and 31,000 died of disease or were executed within 90 days, after reaching prison camps in Luzon. (Orlando Sentinel Article April 8, 1994)