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Ceremony Held Yearly Honors U.S. Veterans

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2007

KEYSTONE - The American Legion Post 147 of Odessa will host its annual Veterans Day remembrance ceremony Sunday morning at Keystone Park.

The wreath-laying ceremony begins at 11 a.m. at the park's 15-year-old veteran's monument.

"We replace the wreaths at the monument. We play taps," said Sal Poliandro, vice senior commander of post 147. The American Legion has used Keystone Park for the ceremony since 1968. The park is at 17926 Gunn Highway.

"We reach out to the community with events like this," Poliandro said.

Post 147 is across Gunn Highway, a quarter mile south of the park.

Poliandro, who will be master of ceremonies, said he expects about 85 people to attend.

Part of the park's land once belonged to the American Legion. It was donated to Hillsborough County in 1986.

The American Legion organized the tribute in deference to a traditional celebration that started in 1921 with the construction of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington. In similar ceremonies an unknown soldier was buried in Westminster Abbey in London and at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The memorials were intended to recognize the ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m. Nov. 11, 1918, which became known as Armistice Day. It became a national holiday in 1938.

The first celebration using the term Veterans Day occurred in Birmingham, Ala., in 1947.

In 1954 a congressional bill changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

For information call Sal Poliandro at (727) 457-7716.

Reporter Stephen Hammill can be reached at (813) 865-1523 or at shammill@tampatrib.com.

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