Monroe County honors military families with May proclamation

Monroe County officials turned a routine proclamation into a public thank-you for the people tied to the armed forces across the Florida Keys, formally recognizing May 2026 as National Military Appreciation Month during a recent Board of County Commissioners meeting.

Veterans, active-duty service members and others in attendance were invited to join the recognition, underscoring that the county’s message went beyond ceremony. It landed in a place where military life is woven into everyday civic life, from retirees and reservists to families stationed elsewhere and returning home to the Keys.

That local connection is backed by county services. Monroe County Veterans Affairs said it has eight employees split between its Key Largo and Key West offices and serves about 8,000 full-time and 2,500 seasonal veterans, military personnel, survivors, dependents and family members in the Florida Keys. The office’s Marathon satellite clinic operates every second Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Marathon Public Library Branch, 3490 Overseas Highway, giving residents another place to seek help without driving to Key West or Key Largo.

The county’s central office is in the Historic Gato Building at 1100 Simonton Street in Key West, and the month of recognition also lines up with Memorial Day observances. Monroe County offices were set to close Monday, May 25, 2026, for Memorial Day, while Veterans Affairs and the City of Key West planned a wreath service at the Key West Veterans Memorial Garden at Bayview Park. Another ceremony was scheduled in Key Largo at the Murray Nelson Government Center with VFW Post 10211.

The proclamation also reflected Monroe County’s history as the southernmost county in the continental United States, with a footprint that includes the entire Florida Keys chain, surrounding waters and a largely uninhabited mainland area in Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve. That military identity runs deep: the Florida Keys Marathon International Airport was built by the U.S. Navy in 1943 as an auxiliary airfield for Naval Air Station Key West, and the county still maintains the East Martello and West Martello forts in Key West as historic properties.

County leaders have used military recognition in other visible ways, too. Monroe County Fire Rescue marked National Military Appreciation Month in May 2025 by wearing “Supporting Our Troops” shirts, and the county has also joined Operation Green Light for Veterans, lighting county buildings green in support of veterans. In a tourism-driven region, those gestures helped signal that Monroe County sees military families not as visitors to honor once a year, but as part of the community it serves year-round.