A Shared Salute on Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary

On March 23, 2024, four elderly gentlemen donned hard hats and wielded shovels as local dignitaries and other residents looked on. These members of the Greatest Generation, all well into their 90s and all World War II veterans, were breaking ground for the latest—and largest—monument at the Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary in Vero Beach.

A project of the Indian River Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, with support from the City of Vero Beach and the Cultural Council of Indian River County as well as numerous companies, organizations, and individuals, this addition is a tribute to the 42 Indian River County men who lost their lives in the Second World War.

The structure will provide a permanent and dignified stage for the solemn events, such as the annual Memorial Day ceremonies, that are conducted on the island, obviating the need to set up a temporary one each time.

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Tony Young, a former mayor of Vero Beach and a grandson of Vero’s first mayor, spoke at the ceremony. For him, several aspects of the project wrap together to form a touching tribute: the humility of the WWII veterans he has gotten to know, the beauty of the monument’s design, and the enormous community support for the undertaking.

Moments like this, especially in a small city, join the past to the present in a particularly poignant and personal way for relatives of those lost, surviving veterans and their families, and everyone moved by gratitude and respect for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

One Vero Beach family in particular will forever be tied to the Memorial Island Sanctuary.

Local real estate agent Alex MacWilliam Jr., who passed away in 2012, once said, “The MacWilliam family has always been proud to serve our country.” That service began with a man who did not even set foot in the United States until he was 18 years old. Three generations later, that legacy continues in a variety of ways, one of which is particularly concrete—or, to be more precise, granite.

Like the real estate company that is now celebrating its 75th anniversary, Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary is part of the patrimony of the MacWilliam family. The sanctuary, known colloquially as Memorial Island, was the brainchild of Alexander Duncan MacWilliam Sr., who was born in Scotland, emigrated with his family to Cleveland, and arrived in Vero in 1919, the year the city was incorporated.

MacWilliam was a highly decorated—and combat-wounded—veteran of the First World War when he settled in Vero and jumped right into life as a pioneer resident of the fledgling town. He became a landscape architect and was tapped by the group of Cleveland businessmen developing the Riomar Country Club to supervise the project, which would include the area’s first golf course. Perhaps being from Scotland, a nation with a centuries-old golfing heritage, played into his motivation; with a crew of men and mules, he got the job done in a matter of months.

“Mac,” as he was known, took on many civic responsibilities and became a tireless public servant. Ultimately, he served as Vero’s mayor for 20 (nonconsecutive) years and a state representative for 13 years. In 1925, along with Anthony Young and 63 others, he traveled to Tallahassee to lobby for the creation of Indian River County.

That same year, as a member of the city council, MacWilliam helped establish the Indian River Mosquito Control District, the first in the state. For that alone, we owe him a debt of gratitude!

After World War II, MacWilliam proposed the idea of a memorial to those who had made the ultimate sacrifice for our country; the little spoil island known as Farley Island would be the spot. Support from the community was robust. Local veteran organizations, government officials, the City of Vero Beach, Indian River County, local companies, and individual donors and volunteers got on board and spent the next 17 years bringing the concept to fruition.

On May 3, 1964, an immense flag was hoisted above the new Memorial Island, as it was then known and is often referred to even today. Colors were presented by veterans, benedictions were offered by clergymen, hymns were sung, and the names of 56 fallen soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen were read. Some of the World War I dead had served only a matter of months before succumbing to influenza or other diseases rampant at the time. Some had perished in Korea. The majority had given their lives in World War II.

Each of those 56 names was embossed on a bronze plaque affixed to a granite marker in a gravel area in the center of the island. At the entrance to the island, reached by a small pedestrian bridge connecting it to Riverside Park, a larger marker announces its purpose: “Lest we forget,” and below, “In memory of those who paid the supreme sacrifice in defense of our country.”

Alex “Buzz” MacWilliam III, now at the helm of the family real estate firm, was just a small boy on that May 1964 day. “I am especially proud of my grandfather,” he says. “He fought bravely and saw good men die. He understood the rigors of war and had a vision to create a memorial sanctuary in the late 1940s.”

The sanctuary has evolved over the decades since its inception, and Buzz MacWilliam has kept a close eye on it all. “I remember being a child of 4 or 5 years of age when it was first opened. It consisted of shell paths, Australian pines, and shrubs that grew wild. It was sandspurs, pine cones, and fiddler crabs.

“Today, thanks to our wonderful community and hundreds of volunteers who have worked tirelessly, it has become one of America’s most unique and picturesque memorials to the service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”

In addition to the horticultural and cosmetic changes the island has undergone, many more markers and monuments have been added since 1964. It is fitting, perhaps, that the first, erected in 1967, was to Alex MacWilliam Sr. himself, who passed away at age 75 on August 13, 1966. His daughter Helen, as part of her own life of indefatigable service to the community, helped preserve her father’s legacy, not least by chairing the Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary Committee.

Indeed, the entire MacWilliam clan has a special place in its collective heart for that little patch of land in the Indian River Lagoon.

“One of my favorite things to do whenever I arrive on the island is to first read the Florida Heritage plaque about the story of the island,” says 35-year-old Alex MacWilliam IV. “Then I make my way to my great-grandfather’s plaque and brush off any fallen leaves or pollen that might be resting on it.”

At the 2021 Memorial Day ceremony on the island, MacWilliam IV read the moving World War I tribute poem In Flanders Fields by John McCrae.

“While at the observance that day,” he recalls, “I ran into family members of my late Great-Uncle Pete MacWilliam, who was a United States Air Force fighter pilot in Korea and Vietnam. He later served as base operations officer at Patrick Air Force Base and retired as a lieutenant colonel.”

Lieutenant Colonel Peter MacWilliam’s 25 years of military service clearly influenced his son Michael, who also joined the Air Force, rising to the rank of colonel. He is now retired, but his son Garrett has carried on the tradition; he is currently a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force.

Another son of Alex MacWilliam Sr., Peter’s older brother Edgar, served as a “belly gunner” on a B-24 in the Pacific theater of World War II.

If all goes according to plan, the new World War II Memorial will have been dedicated by the time the magazine issue containing this article hits newsstands and mailboxes. And for many decades to come, this monument will, in the words of Tony Young, “inspire continued selfless service, which is exemplified by those who gave dearly.”