How did a small county park in the Florida Panhandle, that is surrounded by tourist-focused businesses, become the subject of an article about hiking and nature? By blending a unique memorial to women veterans with an outstanding habitat that plays a surprisingly important role on songbird migration. After reflecting on our experience there, the photographer astutely said, “This would be a great walk to feature on Memorial Day Weekend”.
We were on hallowed ground – a park dedicated to veterans, in the military centric community of Fort Walton Beach, Florida , home of Eglin Air Force Base, the largest air base in the world. But on a personal level, it was hallowed ground because of its ties to my father, Eugene Burns, himself an Air Force veteran, who passed away this past December at the age of 95.
The math is hard to calculate in today’s economy. My Dad was a mid-level manager for Cincinnati Bell. Despite having 8 kids, he was somehow able to retire at the age of 57. For many of his early retirement years, he and my mom would snowbird on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach. One of the attractions that appealed to my Dad was the Island Golf Center, a beautiful, 18 hole, par 3 golf course on the island. It was truly an oasis – a naturalized landscape of sand dunes, wetlands, Sand Live Oaks, Cabbage Palms, and majestic Loblolly Pines. It was a par 3 course extraordinaire.
Each winter my Dad played there in a senior league, with both locals and other snowbirds, from early January to mid- March. Given his relatively young age, they called him “the kid”. I, along with 2 brothers, played the course with him three times in the late1990s and early 2000s, and the course entirely exceeded my expectations. My Dad truly felt at home there. Unfortunately, it was all lost when Hurricane Ivan, and its ten to fifteen foot storm surge, hit this part of the Florida Panhandle in 2004. With extensive damage to the golf course, the owner opted to not rebuild it. Its absence left a void in my Dad’s winter lifestyle and they opted to not return after 2010.
Over the years since the hurricane, the former golf course property has been developed piece-meal. Some of the road frontage property became tourist-focused businesses. Another large section was used for the development of the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center. Later, Ross Marler Park, with an emphasis on swimming, fishing, and boating, was built on a section that was on the intercoastal waterway. But a large remnant remained.
This March, my brothers and I visited the area and were pontooning on Choctawhatchee Bay, when I noted that the remainder of the golf course appeared to have been developed into another park. Unbeknownst to me, Veterans Park had opened in 2021. One morning, I took a brief stroll through the new park and told the photographer that we should walk there on our April visit to the Panhandle.
One of the main features of Veterans’ Park is a memorial to the women who have served in our nation’s military, from the Revolutionary War through the Iraq War.
Statues of decorated servicewomen have been placed along a centralized concrete loop path.
The first to great you is Margaret Corbin from the Revolutionary War. She had accompanied her husband’s Virginia Milita unit to Manhattan where they were outnumbered by the British. While operating a cannon, both her husband and his partner were killed. Margaret stepped in and continued operating the cannon herself until severely wounded by grapeshot cannon fire to her left arm, chest, and jaw. Her left arm never functioned again. She was the first woman to receive a military pension.
Nearby was Cathay Williams. She was the daughter of a enslaved mother and a free father. She initially served the Union Army as a cook and washer woman, but in 1866 enlisted in the army under the alias of William Cathay and later joined an all black unit that would eventually become part of the famed Buffalo Soldiers.
Lenah Higbee was an immigrant from Canada trained as a surgical nurse. She joined the Navy in 1908 as one of the “Sacred Twenty” – the original nurses to form the Navy’s Nursing Corps. She later moved into leadership and trained and managed thousands of nurses during WWI and the influenza pandemic of 1918. She was awarded the Navy Cross in 1918 and continued to grow the Navy’s nursing program in the interwar period. She passed away in 1941 and was buried at Arlington Cemetery. In 1945, the Navy commissioned the USS Higbee, the first combat warship named for a female member of the U.S. Navy.
Jaqueline Cochran was a American civilian pilot when she joined the British Air Auxiliary in 1941 and took on the job of training British female pilots for the war transport service. When the U.S. joined the war she was named director of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). In 1945 she became the first woman civilian to receive the Distinguished Service Cross. In 1948 she was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserves, and in the 1950s set many air speed records.
Jaunita Bonham was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Air Corp Medical Corps in the Pacific Theater in 1944-1945, and served in the Phillipines and Japan in the after war period. She had resigned from the military, but re-enlisted in the Air Force for the Korean War, serving as a flight nurse. In 1950, an evacuation flight that she was on crashed into the Sea of Japan. Despite having a broken cheekbone, fractured skull, broken shoulder and fractured wrist, she was able to rescue 17 survivors. For her heroic actions she was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Sharon Ann Lane was a member of the Army Nurse Corps Reserve when she was sent to Vietnam. In June of 1969, she was killed while working in an evacuation hospital that was struck by Viet Cong rockets. She was the only Amercian nurse killed by enemy fire in Vietnam. She was awarded the Purple Heart as well as the Bronze Star with “V” device, which is awarded for heroism in direct combat. It is the fourth highest combat award. Notice the dressing scissors in her breast pocket.
Leigh Ann Hester was a member of the Kentucky National Guard serving in Iraq and was the first Army female to receive the Silver Star for Valor since WWII, when she received the award in June, 2005. She was recognized for her heroic actions when the team she led responded to an American convoy that had been ambushed. Her team killed twenty-seven insurgents, wounded six, and captured one. It was noted that her actions saved the lives of numerous convoy members.
Naseema was an Afgan immingrant who came to the United States at the age of twelve. At age eighteen she joined the Air Force. Over the next fifteen years she completed both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, attained the rank of Senior Non-commissioned Officer, was selected for Officer’s Training School, and commissioned 2nd Lieutenant. Following the attacks of September 11th, the U.S. Military had an urgent need for Pashto speakers, the language of the Taliban. As the only Pashto speaker in the Air Force she was transferred from her desk job to combat operations and for years provided intelligence support to the entire U. S. ground and air operations in Afghanistan. Her actionable intelligence led to the removal of thousands of insurgents from the battlefield and saved hundreds of coalition and Afgan lives. The plague accompanying the statue closes with, “When freedom called this highly decorated U.S. immigrant answered, and a grateful nation thanks her for her many sacrifices for her adopted country”.
Part of the beauty of the Memorial Loop was that it was well integrated into the remaining, outstanding, naturalized landscape of the former golf course, nestled in amongst the ponds, dunes, Sand Live Oaks, Cabbage Palms, and Loblolly Pines. Over the years nature has reclaimed some of the fairways and greens with a mix of native barrier island flora, and a surprising amount of wildlife now call this greenspace home.
Arising off the Memorial Loop and heading west was a sand path that led to a large pond that was a haven for Great Blue Herons. Initially, we noted these two that were across the pond, but then noted two just to our right.
Then one from the far bank flew across the pond and landed just in front of us.
Soon we witnessed a territorial dispute.
After making his point, the apparent victor, flew to the far bank.
It was surprising how close the herons allowed us to stand to them. The photo below demonstrates the beauty of the heron and the wetland itself.
Another loop trail, consisting of concrete and boardwalk, arose off the Memorial Loop and wound through the eastern section of the park.
This passed through a larger remnant of the golf course, where I tried to recall the layout of some of the holes. I believe that this location was the site of one of the more memorable holes, that had a green overlooking Choctawhatchee Bay.
This boardwalk travels across a former narrow fairway and turns left at the site of a small green.
This bridge, which was seen in an earlier photo, is now a proverbial bridge to nowhere. In the past, golfers hit from one side of this pond to the other and took this bridge to cross. If you look on the shore to the right of the bridge one can see the remains of the bulkhead that supported either a tee or a green.
As we stood on the bridge, we noted some activity in the Loblolly Pines on the right – a Great Blue Heron Rookery.
Depending on the angle, we thought that we could appreciate five nests. When I had been there in mid-march I noted herons carrying sticks but I had not noted actual nests. During research I found an Audubon Society mention from 2018 that noted forty nesting pairs.
Amongst the vegetation of the park we noted a nice variety of native wildflowers, particularly those commonly found on dune landscapes.
Sensitive Flower reminds me of an exploding aerial firework. When its leaves are touched they fold over upon themselves. It thrives in dry, sandy soils.
Beggarticks, also known as Spanish Needles, flower all year. It attracts a terrific variety of pollinators, especially bees and butterflies. It is controversial whether it is a native plant however.
Hedge Bindweed was prolific in its blooming.
False Rosemary, also called Beach Rosemary, has been used in cooking. Its flavor is more subtle and mintier than culinary rosemary, which is described as being piney.
Lastly we noted Spiderwort, whose flower color can range from pastel light blue, to a pink, to the deep purple they were here.
In addition to the herons, the ponds were alive with other wildlife, especially turtles. Our collection of photos suggests Red-eared Sliders, Yellow-bellied Sliders, Cooters, and Painted Turtles.
Despite its twenty acre size, the Audubon Society considers Veterans Park a birding hotspot with 259 species identified there. It is particularly noted for the large number of warbler species that stop here on their migrations. Our exciting sighting of the day was this male Orchard Warbler. They are also migrators, overwintering in Central and South America, and breeding in the Eastern U.S.. Interestingly, they migrate north later than most species, in late spring, and migrate south earlier than most species, as early as mid-July. So their stay in the U.S. is limited to about three and a half months.
One other relic from the golf course’s past, was the light pole that an Osprey thought was the perfect nesting structure. The course was illuminated for night golf and was open till 11 PM.
As we walked we could not help but admire this large Sand Live Oak. They reside in the harsh environment of barrier islands and on beach front dunes where they have to deal with wind blown sand, salt, and limited fresh water. For that reason they are extremely slow growing and a hundred year old tree may be the size of a van. This was the largest Sand Live Oak specimen that I have ever seen. It is likely that this tree existed before the Gulf Coast had seen much commercial development.
Each April when we visit the Panhandle, we observe two events in the yearly life-cycle of Live Oaks and Sand Live Oaks. April is when these trees drop last years leaves, shortly after the leaves for this season bud out, and frequently the forest floor is covered with the newly fallen leaves. At the same time, the trees are flowering. Each tree is monoecious, meaning they have both male and female flowers. The male reproductive structure is a panicle of tiny, light brown flowers that release pollen.
The female flower is on a little stalk. After pollination an acorn will develop and ripen in one season.
In summary, our visit to Veterans Park was a outstanding little jaunt. It brought back fun memories of playing golf with our Dad on his winter “home course”. But it was equally satisfying to study the statues and to read the tributes to the women veterans who are memorialized there. I am excited that the county has done such an good job preserving the lush landscape of the former golf course and providing an oasis of native habitat where wildlife can flourish. I suspect that walks here will become a regular event on our visits to Okaloosa Island. So, if you are visiting Destin or Fort Walton Beach, and you need a break from the traffic and the souvenir shops, I would suggest a morning or evening walk at Veterans Park for a superb nature fix.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.
Overview
Location – 1300 Miracle Strip Pkwy SE, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548. The trail entrance is at the back of the parking area for the convention center. There is also an entrance via boardwalk from Marler Park.
Parking – large asphalt lot at both entries.
Facilities – formal restrooms at Marler Park entrance.
Trail Conditions – the two loops are concrete with sections of boardwalk. There is a packed sand trail that leads to the largest pond where we saw the herons feeding.
Benches – yes, many.
Kids – kids of all ages should do well.
Dogs – welcomed on a leash.
Suggested Paired Hikes – none.
Links:
https://www.destinfwb.com/listing/women-veterans-memorial-at-veterans-park/85/