Divers Honor Veterans at Underwater Memorial ‘Circle of Heroes’

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Dozens of veterans—including several amputees—took the plunge Monday, Aug. 5, roughly 10 miles off the coast of Pinellas County, to help inaugurate a newly created underwater veterans memorial, the Circle of Heroes.

The Tampa Bay Times reports the Gulf of Mexico memorial is at a depth of 40 feet and includes 12 life-sized concrete statues and also a monument bearing emblems from all five US military branches.

Part of a larger area known as Veterans Reef, the Circle of Heroes allegedly took a decade to plan and is the first underwater memorial of its kind in North America.

Heyward Matthews, a professor of oceanography at St. Petersburg College, originally designed the memorial as a way to appeal to divers and adventurous young people who might be less interested in visiting traditional veterans memorials.

Brighter Future Florida, a nonprofit run by Matthews’ cousin, former Congressman David Jolly, conducted most of the fundraising for the project, adding $150,000 to the Circle of Heroes budget in addition to $50,000 of seed money supplied by Pinellas County in 2017, a spokesman told the Times.

In addition to honoring America’s men and women in uniform, the Circle of Heroes promises to lure divers from around the country, offering the region’s local economy a boost.

“With the nation’s first underwater memorial, we are shining the spotlight on the importance of remembering those who have fought to protect our freedoms,” said Pinellas County Board Chair Karen Seel. “People around the world will visit this iconic site, increasing dive-related tourism and helping businesses grow in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area.”

Numerous dive shops, nonprofits and veteran’s groups are already planning trips to the Circle of Heroes, including Arizona-based outfit, Deep Sea Valkyries. Neysa Grzywa, the director of business operations at Deep Sea Valkyries, told the Times that diving can be a healing and transformative activity for wounded service members.

“When you descend below the waves, you enter a world of peace and tranquility,” Grzywa said. “The sounds of chaos are replaced with nothing but your own breath, reminding you that you’re alive and not to waste that miracle on the pain.”

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