Sarasota National Cemetery: Sarasota's Privilege to Home this National Honor

Editor's Note: Patriot Plaza is open daily from sunrise to sunset. Admission is free. Weekly tours of Patriot Plaza take place on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. except for federal holidays. Participants should meet at the east entrance of Patriot Plaza near the bronze sculpture Home, which depicts nesting eagles.

To schedule a group or school tour, please contact the Patriot Plaza Tour Coordinator at the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County: patriotplaza@sarasotaarts.org or call 941-365-5118 x305.

Teachers and home-schoolers can learn more about school trips, including curricular materials and lesson plans by visiting the Patriot Plaza EdExplorations listed on EdExploreSRQ.com. These field trips are focused on Grades 4-12. The Patterson Foundation funds transportation to Patriot Plaza for all schools in Charlotte, Desoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties.

Most Floridians may not know the facts shared in this blog, but all who love this country want to honor those who endured the ultimate sacrifice freedom sometimes demands. 

Those honorable service men and women deserve a moment’s remembrance. 

The federal holiday, Memorial Day, is just such a day, with its beginnings traced back to the end of the American Civil War. It was in 1868 that the first official day was set aside for this purpose, and over the years, it has settled upon the last Monday in May. 

Memorial Day honors military personnel who lost their lives while actively serving, both during war and peacetime, protecting Americans’ freedoms, domestically and abroad. It is a solemn day, a day to remember that approximately 99% of Americans are protected by around 1% of Americans on active duty at any time in the United States military. 

Interesting fact: With the passage of the National Cemetery Expansion Act of 2003, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to establish six new national cemeteries. A demographic study of the nationwide veteran population identified the Sarasota area as lacking burial options. NCA considered three southwestern Florida sites before purchasing acreage from J. Arlin Hawkins in 2007. Since the 1870s, the land had functioned as a family-operated ranch. In 2008, Sarasota National Cemetery was dedicated, and in 2009, it opened for burials.

Sarasota houses one of nine VA National Cemeteries in the state:

• Barrancas National Cemetery, Pensacola
• Bay Pines National Cemetery, St. Petersburg
• Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, Mims
• Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell
• Jacksonville National Cemetery, Jacksonville
• Sarasota National Cemetery, Sarasota
• South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth
• St. Augustine National Cemetery, St. Augustine
• Tallahassee National Cemetery, Tallahassee 

Did you know that approximately 1.379 million veterans live in Florida, of whom approximately 1.207 million are male veterans, and 172,000 are female veterans? An estimated 100,000 veterans reside in Sarasota and Manatee counties

Did you know that Sarasota National Cemetery was designed to serve veterans and their eligible family members from across the entire Southwest Florida region, which, besides Sarasota County, includes 13 surrounding counties.

Did you know SNC rests on 295 acres, and to date, around 116 of those acres have been developed. SNC’s forecast is to provide a resting place for an approximate total of 300,000 veterans and their eligible dependents from within a seventy-five-mile radius for the next fifty years.

With a gift to the Department of Veterans Affairs, The Patterson Foundation honors and respects the veterans in southwest Florida and all those who visit Sarasota National Cemetery. In 2014, Patriot Plaza, the iconic, world-class American military history collection featuring commissioned artwork and an unparalleled display of photojournalism, was dedicated and gifted to Sarasota National and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Patriot Plaza was imagined, designed, constructed, and generously donated by The Patterson Foundation to honor veterans, inspire patriotism, and embrace freedom. Patriot Plaza, a crowning jewel of honor, dignity, and respect, shines as a beacon, giving Memorial Day meaning and significance every day of the year.

Visit Patriot Plaza