County wants park to memorialize bombing victims

Charlotte Sun Article

December 24, 2020

Concept design for Beirut Peacekeepers Memorial Tower
Charlotte County commissioners be-lieve a proposed tower commemorating the 1983 bombing of Marine barracks in Beirut could be the nation’s best memori-al for this tragedy.

Thank you to Paddle for Heroes for its support!

160 Mile Paddle from Mount Vernon to Marietta is dedicated to William Gaines Jr.

August 7, 2020

The Fourth Annual 160 Mile Paddle from Mount Vernon to Marietta is dedicated to William Gaines Jr., a United States Marine who was killed in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983. He was just 21 years-old.
It’s all been in the works for more than 10 years, Commissioner Stephen R. Deutsch told the Sun. The goal in adding the road is to improve safe access, Deutsch said, and access from the roundabout is safer for westbound traffic than at the main entrance.