Thank you to all those who participated in the 1st Freedom Run at the William R. Gaines Jr. Veterans Memorial Park. Over 100 runners, volunteers, and supporters showed up before 9am for the 5K race.
Join us for one of the last 5k's of the year and let's leave 2020 in the dust! The race will start and end at the William R. Gaines Jr. Veterans Memorial Park. All proceeds will go toward the William R. Gaines Jr. Veterans Memorial Fund.

9am start time

County wants park to memorialize bombing victims

Charlotte Sun Article

December 24, 2020

Concept design for Beirut Peacekeepers Memorial Tower
Charlotte County commissioners be-lieve a proposed tower commemorating the 1983 bombing of Marine barracks in Beirut could be the nation’s best memori-al for this tragedy.

Thank you to Paddle for Heroes for its support!

160 Mile Paddle from Mount Vernon to Marietta is dedicated to William Gaines Jr.

August 7, 2020

The Fourth Annual 160 Mile Paddle from Mount Vernon to Marietta is dedicated to William Gaines Jr., a United States Marine who was killed in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983. He was just 21 years-old.
It’s all been in the works for more than 10 years, Commissioner Stephen R. Deutsch told the Sun. The goal in adding the road is to improve safe access, Deutsch said, and access from the roundabout is safer for westbound traffic than at the main entrance.