Memorial Day 2017

Once again, the City of Miami Springs put on a terrific program for our Memorial Day service.  Councilman Bob Best handled the emcee duties, the Boy Scouts posted the colors, the Girl Scouts led the Pledge of Allegiance, and a brass quintet (if I counted and recall correctly)

played the Star Spangled Banner to get underway. Thanks to the efforts of former Councilman Paul Dotson, we were joined by Bill Kniffin, the son of Walter D. Kniffin, one of the men whose name appears on our War Memorial monument.

I was gratified to be able to talk about the six men whose names appear on the memorial, giving details as to their service and their lives prior to the military, while introducing the names of three men who are "Sons of Miami Springs" but whose names do not appear on the memorial. As I was speaking, Chris Mayhew approached and gave me yet another name, and early indications are that my "three missing" will soon have a fourth in Robert Cain, Miami Springs '68.

I put out a call for volunteers to get involved with a larger project to renovate the memorial to include more detail about the men and their service, and I came home with 20 new contacts willing to step forward.

Finally, we had reporter Isabella Cueto of WLRN on hand to cover the event. You can read her coverage here.

If you haven't yet had an opportunity to peruse the research-in-progress on the Miami Springs War Memorial, you can find the page with links to the individual soldiers and marines here. I know there is a lot more information out there to be had, and I welcome all the help I can get, so please drop me a note at springsobserver@gmail.com with ideas and feedback.

Thanks once again to all who came out to make this year's Memorial Day service one of which we can be proud.

​s/o