Friday, October 29, 2010

Key West to Pay Tribute to All Veterans

Key West Postmaster Jane Evans invites all Florida Keys employees to join her in paying tribute to veterans, past and present, on Thursday, November 11.

The Postmaster is coordinating postal participation on a float in the annual Key West Veterans Day Parade. Beginning at 4 pm, the parade will travel along Duval Street, with a reviewing stand near Fleming and Duval. In addition to the postal float, military units, veterans' groups, and other patriotic units will march through the streets of Old Town Key West.

Key West always has been an important military post, since it sits at the northern edge of the deepwater channel connecting the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico via the Florida Straits. Fort Taylor was initially built on the island. The Navy added a small base from which the USS Maine sailed to its demise in Havana, Cuba at the beginning of the Spanish-American War. In the beginning of World War II, the Navy increased its presence from 50 acres to 3,000 acres, including all of Boca Chica Key's 1,700 acres, and the construction of Fleming Key. The Naval Air Station Key West is the main facility on Boca Chica, where the Navy trains its pilots.

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