Florida News: Nation's first underwater veterans memorial opens to divers

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Florida has a new landmark.

The nation's first underwater memorial honoring America's veterans opened to divers on August 4 in Clearwater after being in the works for more than 10 years, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

First divers jump in to see nation's first underwater Veterans memorial@MyClearwater@VSPC@VFWHQ@StPeteFL@StPeteChamber@iflypiepic.twitter.com/qH0jMwJeYr

-- Circle of Heroes (@COHFlorida)August 5, 2019The Circle of Heroes memorial includes 12 life-size concrete statues representing men and women from all five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces under 40 feet of water about 10 miles off the shore of Clearwater.

The memorial was designed to honor service members and to be a therapeutic dive site for disabled veterans suffering from conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder.

"With the nation's first underwater memorial, we are shining the spotlight on the importance of remembering those who have fought to protect our freedoms," said Pinellas County Board Chair Karen Seel.

The site isn't complete yet as 12 additional statues will be added in 2020 to complete the 100-foot memorial, according to Circle of Heroes.

The site will also be an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico that will bring dive-related tourism to Florida.

Read more here.

This story has been written and syndicated across GateHouse Media Group's 22 Florida markets.

___

(c)2019 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.