Hillsborough Vietnam Memorial Impresses, Inspires

Murals depicting battles, two Vietnam War era helicopters and memorials to fallen soldiers and nurses — the Hillsborough County Vietnam War Memorial has all the gut wrenching, patriotic inspiration that such a monument should boast.

The planning and fundraising effort that made the project at 3602 N. U.S. 301 possible was headed up by Valrico's Bob Silmser, an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam era. He and a group of fellow vets made more than 40 presentations at local Lions and Rotary clubs and various veterans organizations to begin getting the money together with a promise from the county to match whatever they were able raise.

"In 51 weeks we raised $70,000," Silmser said. "We were able to dedicate last month with nobody owing anybody anything. We had a great turnout for the dedication, and the memorial has really been taking people aback. I think a lot of people are blown away by how beautiful it is."

The site's beautiful black granite memorial and the surrounding artifacts have garnered attention on a national scale and will be featured in Vietnam Veterans Magazine's upcoming March/April edition.

"It's getting a lot of attention in the media since it opened," Silmser said. "I was out there recently, and there was a man there who just couldn't say enough about it. It means a lot to me and all the guys who served in Vietnam to see the reaction of people when they come to see it."

The memorial is just the start of a series of plans for the park along U.S. 301, north of the bypass canal. Eventually, Hillsborough County's veterans plan to open memorials for the 12 theaters of war that America has participated in, as well as a two-story war museum somewhere down the line.

"The Iraq memorial is being worked on now as well as the Seminole Indian Wars and the Civill War," Silmser said. "We're moving a plaque from downtown Tampa out to the park for our World War I memorial, which is in the planning stages. We've got a new entrance with a large triangle piece of red granite with the five service emblems in bronze on it and a bronze eagle on top with a six-foot wingspan. We've got a lot planned, and we look forward to unveiling it in the future."

For local vets, the task of putting together a proper memorial is something that digs into their hearts. The sacrifice that the men and women of the Armed Forces make is something that vets like Brandon's Vince Ferraro, who served during Vietnam, believe needs to be taught and respected down through the generations.

"I think the memorial was well overdue," Ferraro said. "The whole project for developing memorials is a great educational tool for the kids to understand what we’ve been through as a country. Any time we develop appreciation for our veterans in this country, it’s a good thing."

For more information and photos of the memorial, visit the site's Facebook page.

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