CLEARWATER, Fla. — Memorial Day Weekend is a time to reflect on those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Off the coast of Clearwater, there is a special memorial, but the only way to see it is by diving.
Located about 10 miles out and 40 feet deep is the Circle of Heroes at Veterans Reef, consisting of 13 life-sized statues that recognize the different branches of the U.S. Military.
WATCH: Nonprofit created to preserve Circle of Heroes dive site
Captain TJ Shea has made hundreds of dive trips to the Circle of Heroes since its inception in 2019.
“Super awesome for me to be able to take divers out, to be able to take new divers out, kids when they get certified, and see the joy on their face,” said Shea. “But it pales in comparison to running a trip where we have veterans on board and seeing the emotion, the raw emotion, what it means to them to go down to dive the site.”
Air Force veterans and fellow captains, Michael Goodrich and Arthur Dennis, said you can’t find a more rewarding dive or a more patriotic dive. It’s the nation’s first underwater memorial honoring U.S. Veterans.
“There is nothing in the world like this, and each time is a different dive because I’m going down normally with other veterans, so I get my own personal reflection and satisfaction for some of the statues down there, but I get more enjoyment watching veterans see it for the very first time,” said Goodrich.
“It’s actually pretty amazing, pretty moving, when you go down there and see how they actually dedicated the actual memorial to veterans,” said Dennis. “The fallen soldier that’s down there, the different statues, the different operations we’ve done with Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and even Vietnam and the Korean war.”
However, Captain TJ said you can’t just assume the statues will last forever. So, this year, the Circle of Heroes at Veterans Reef Foundation was established. The nonprofit’s main goals are preservation, protection and raising awareness.
“Getting this site dedicated as an exclusion zone and having it updated on the marine charts,” said Shea. “So, when you are out on your boat you pull this up you are able to see, ‘ok I’m not allowed to navigate through here or anchor in here.’ Dropping anchors in that site damages the statues.”
Another goal is to complete the circle. The original design called for 24 statues.
“Those are going to be dedicated to specific individuals,” said Shea.
Veterans say the Circle of Heroes means so much to them, so it’s nice to know the community is doing all they can to protect it.
“To try and preserve these so more and more veterans and more and more people can come out and experience it, I think that’s huge,” said Goodrich.
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