American Fallen Warrior Memorial Foundation – Gold Star 11 National Fundraising Tour kicks off Saturday at JetBlue Park
American Fallen Warrior Memorial Foundation – Gold Star 11 National Fundraising Tour kicks off Saturday at JetBlue Park
American Fallen Warrior Memorial Foundation (AFWMF) will launch its national Gold Star 11 tour Saturday at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers in order to raise awareness and funds for the building of a $30 million national Memorial in Kansas City, Kansas, built to honor those fallen service men and women lost in conflicts since the Gulf War. The Event will take place Saturday August 31st, 2013 from 11AM – 3PM with 3PM being the Tour Send Off.
The GoldStar11 tour beginning at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida will travel through 14 cities and 13 states before finishing up on Monday, September 23, at the Fort Douglas Military Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The tour’s top headliners will be two historic and inanimate artifacts known as Star11 and UT6. Both Star11 and UT6 are cement blocks that were removed from the slurry wall at Ground Zero under the World Trade Center and commissioned to be sculpted into finished forms of 9/11 memorial artwork. Star11 will become the showcase artifact at the must-be-built American Fallen Warrior Memorial in Kansas City. UT6 will have a celebrated resting place at Fort Douglas.
Fort Myers will feature the official unveiling and concert. The traveling convoy, which is free and open to the public, will enable visitors to climb onto the convoy’s staging area to touch and take photographs with Star11 and UT6. During this viewing time, patriotic music will regale the crowds and a large American flag, courtesy of Annin Flagmakers, will be hoisted and flying proudly above the entire scene. Also on stage will be Gold Star family members, veterans, military and elected officials wishing to share personal stories, celebrate loved ones, and welcome AFWMF officials.
The professionally produced live entertainment show will be handled by AFWMF spokespeople and performers such as Nathan Osmond, Jeff Senour, Diana Nagy and Bert Lynch.
The tour’s name is a reference to Gold Star Families who have lost members in American military conflicts. Gold Star Mothers are those American women who have lost a son or daughter in service to the United States, and refer to service flags hung in windows of families since World War I. On the last Sunday in September, Gold Star Mother’s Day is observed in the U.S. in their honor.
More information about the foundation can be found at the AFWMF website and the Gold Star 11 tour.
JetBlue Park
11500 Fenway South Dr
Fort Myers, FL 33913
