Memorial for Floridians who died in Iraq wars opens in Tampa

Memorial for Floridians who died in Iraq wars opens in Tampa
Tampa Bay Times
Will Hobson, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, December 14, 2013

Jason Wyatt, left, performs the national anthem while Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland, center, and Command Sgt. Maj. Frank A. Grippe stand at attention during the dedication ceremony.

Mark Goujon lost three members of his Air Force team in January 2007 when an improvised explosive device they were sent to inspect detonated in Iraq.

He was supposed to be on that inspection, but was swapped off.

After returning to Riverview, he started thinking there should be a more fitting tribute to the friends he lost, and other Floridians who died in Iraq, than the photos displayed in his home. And so started a two-year quest of fundraising and organizing that culminated Saturday, with the opening of the Iraq Veterans Memorial in Veterans Memorial Park and Museum east of Tampa.

The ceremony was marked by a rifle salute, a rendition of taps and a reading of the names of the 190 men and women from Florida who died in Iraq by some of their mothers.

Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland, deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, spoke to the crowd of the importance of monuments.

"Without them, we forget the cost of freedom," he said. Next to him, the surviving relatives of some of those who died in Iraq sat under two white tents. Mulholland turned to the families, to say, "Our nation could never repay the debt we owe for your sacrifice."
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