SW058 Central Florida National Cemetery Honors Veterans on Seminole Wars Hallowed Ground

In this short second-part discussion, Doug Gardner of the Florida National Cemetery chats about that cemetery and its central location within the battle space of the Second Seminole War. Guest Doug Gardner is a Vietnam veteran. He heads FNC’s monument committee and serves on the Joint Veterans Support Committee. Doug is executive vice president of Flags of Fallen Vets Inc, for Florida. No Seminole Wars veterans are interred there -- a headstone memorializes Creek Indian David Moniac whose remains are thought to be in St Augustine with Major Dade's fallen men. However, as our fellow guest Chris Kimball has pointed out, there is at least one known Seminole Wars reenactor buried at FNC.

That Air Force veteran is David "Chobee" Exum. 

The former delivery driver volunteered for Hillsborough River State Park Native American Living History Programs. Kimball said the funeral for Exum, one of the original group of Second Seminole War reenactors, was quite a spectacle since many of his fellow reenactors paid their respect in full Native American garb.  Chobee was a member of the Royal Rangers and of the Native American Outreach. Two news articles discuss his work. 

A schematic of the FNC's various sections would help one find his grave. His memorial ID is 15901000

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 

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