Tampa mayor gives message of unity at dinner

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published November 20, 2006

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TAMPA - The Bayshore Patriots spend their Sunday afternoons waving flags along Bayshore Boulevard. Sunday evening, they brought their act indoors. And several hundred friends joined them.

The patriotic group and the city put on the event "A Coalition Thanksgiving ... Tampa Shares an American Tradition" at the Tampa Convention Center.

Attendees enjoyed roast turkey, broccoli casserole and rosemary mashed potatoes, among other all-American treats.

Mayor Pam Iorio and emcee Jack Harris spoke of their appreciation for MacDill Air Force Base and Central Command.

And Vice Adm. David Nichols, deputy commander of CentCom, told the crowd that when he first arrived in Tampa, "I thought the Bayshore Patriots might be a semi-professional football team."

But the night was focused on recognizing the U.S. armed forces, the international coalition fighting alongside them in Iraq and Afghanistan, and patriots of all stripes.

"Regardless of where you are from, from across the globe, we really are all the same," Iorio said.

She also recognized attendees Barbara and Joe Fuerst, whose son, Joseph Frederick Fuerst III, was killed in Afghanistan in July. She called him "steadfast, honest, hardworking - he loved his county, loved his family."

Liz Fulton, an attendee whose sister is deployed in Iraq, said the event should "help remind people of the sacrifices we have to make for freedom."