JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In about four months, you’ll be able to see a retired war aircraft up close at a site near Cecil Airport.
This is Phase 1 of a National POW/MIA Memorial and Museum honoring prisoners of war and those heroes still missing in action.
The City of Jacksonville has provided 26 acres of nearby land for the expansion, and also donated funds along with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Vystar Credit Union for a combined $600,000.
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Support has also come from Congressman Al Lawson and Congressman John Rutherford, who submitted a bipartisan bill to get this site a national designation.
“The MIA aspect of it is huge since it’s the only one,” said Ed Turner, a Navy veteran who is on the board of directors for this project.
At the site off Lake Newman Street, you will be able to spot an A-7 Corsair. The war aircraft served in the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, and you would’ve seen it fly right out of Cecil Field back in the day. It sits in the parking lot, but soon it’ll be moved to the site of Phase 1 in front of the main building, along with three other aircraft that all flew out the base at one point.
“Our principal motto is never forget,” Turner emphasized. He shared that he will never forget fellow Navy Lieutenant Robert J. Dwyer, whom he knew by his call letters B.J.
“He made a big difference in my life,” Turner remarked.
“I think that’s part of my motivation [for] helping with this memorial,” he added.
Dwyer disappeared during Operation Desert Storm.
“[I] searched for him all day, couldn’t find him,” he remembered.
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Every week, he finds comfort in his memorial pillar.
“I always go by and ‘You know, hey BJ, how ya doing?’ It’s helpful to me,” he explained.
“He’s kinda big in my heart as a memory.”
Now Turner hopes others will come here to find comfort, and create new memories.
“I think it’s helpful to have a memorial like this to kind of reflect,” Turner said.
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