World War II memorial opens at Brooksville Airport Gunnery Backstop
Community leaders and volunteers cut the ribbon on a new World War II memorial at the Brooksville Tampa Bay Regional Airport on November 22, converting a concrete gunnery backstop into a public educational site. The installation honors 33 airmen who died training at the airfield, and offers interpretive markers and artifacts that matter to local residents and visitors.
On November 22 community leaders, volunteers and contractors gathered at the Brooksville Tampa Bay Regional Airport to dedicate a World War II memorial built into the airport's historic Gunnery Backstop. The project centers on a B 17 propeller cenotaph engraved to honor 33 airmen who died while training at the airfield, and features a restored inert bomb casing called the "Brooksville Bomb" along with interpretive markers and recovered artifacts from the site.
Hernando County Government announced the ribbon cutting in a media release and invited the public to visit the new memorial. Funding came from private donations, supplemented by volunteer labor and contractor support to convert the existing concrete backstop into an interpretive area. The result preserves a tangible piece of military history while creating a site for education and remembrance.
For Hernando County residents the memorial has immediate symbolic value as a place to honor local service and sacrifice. The engraved cenotaph makes explicit the human cost of the airfield's wartime training program, while the artifacts and signage provide context that can be used by local schools, veterans groups and history organizations. By transforming an underused industrial structure into a heritage asset, the project also expands the airport's role as a community destination.
Economically the installation represents a form of adaptive reuse that can support modest heritage tourism and community events without large public capital outlay. Because the project relied on donations and volunteer work the county's direct expenditure was limited, yet the site may attract visitors who spend at nearby restaurants and shops. Long term, preserving and interpreting military sites can strengthen local identity and provide a low cost cultural amenity that complements broader county efforts to promote outdoor recreation and historical programming.
The memorial joins a growing number of municipal initiatives that prioritize preservation of World War II era assets. For residents of Hernando County the Gunnery Backstop memorial is both a remembrance and a small but durable investment in public history and community pride.
