SW057 Seminole Wars Panels Available for Proposed Freedom Memorial Plaza at Bushnell's Florida National Cemetery

    We devote our next two episodes to honoring veterans who fell in battle and veterans for whom we memorialize. In Bushnell, a national cemetery provides an honored abode to deceased American veterans. It is located in the heart of where were waged the first battles of the Second Seminole War Ironically, Florida National Cemetery at Bushnell, or FNC, contains no Seminole Wars veterans. Only one marker – a headstone – honors Seminole War service. That marker belongs to Creek Indian and Alabama native David Moniac, the first native American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. His remains are not interred at FNC but his memory is.   A unique feature is the ability to take an image of a headstone to learn more about the veteran.  Overall, FNC contains no monuments to ANY of the wars Americans have fought in. That is about to change. Doug Gardner joins us to introduce listeners to the Freedom Memorial Plaza initiative. Its centerpiece is 68 etched panels depicting the various wars Americans have fought in since our nation’s founding. Several of those panels are available to recognize events from the Seminole Wars of Florida. Doug Gardner is a Vietnam veteran – welcome home, buddy! – He heads FNC’s monument committee and serves on the Joint Veterans Support Committee. Doug is executive vice president of Flags of Fallen Vets Inc, for Florida. This week, Doug describes the monument initiative. Next week, on Memorial Day, Doug chats about the cemetery itself.   Other monuments include Gold Star Families, missing soldiers, and a monument to veterans buried who had no families to attend the ceremony.    Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida.  Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast catcher, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website www.seminolewars.us