Veterans Celebrate Opening Of New Resource Center

TAMPA, FL – Hillsborough County’s veterans no longer need to visit half a dozen government offices to apply for or receive veterans benefits.

With this month’s opening of the Veterans Resource Center, Hillsborough County’s 98,300 veterans now have one place where they can access all resources for veterans.

The resource center, located at Veterans Memorial Park and Rear Admiral LeRoy Collins, Jr. Veterans Museum, 3602 U.S. 301 N., Tampa, next to the Tampa Bypass Canal, is a long-awaited one-stop resources for Hillsborough County veterans, the largest population of veterans among Florida’s 67 counties.

The 8,000-square-foot building not only houses the county’s Consumer & Veterans Services, it has a multipurpose room for training and events. Funding for the $2.2 million facility included $1.9 million in grants from Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity.

Appropriately, the facility and a new World War II memorial in memory of the 520 service members who died in the war, were dedicated on Dec. 7, the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese.

"It's appropriate for us to make these dedications on the 76th anniversary of Pearl Harbor," said retired Army Maj. Gen. James Dozier. "We still live in a very dangerous world. Leadership and preparedness are everything."

The park’s new World War II memorial honors those who participated in that global conflict, including 520 service members from Hillsborough County who died in the war.

Retired U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard Heridia attended the dedication in memory of his uncle, Anthony Perille, who was at Pearl Harbor with the Navy when the Japanese attacked in 1941.

He said he’s pleased to see the efforts Hillsborough County is making on behalf of veterans and plans to take advantage of the services available at the new Veterans Resource Center.

Photos via Hillsborough County

Navy veteran William Momfort, a Pearl Harbor survivor who was a radio operator charged with spreading word of the attack, receives a boutonniere before the dedication ceremonies.

World War II survivors gather for the dedication.