Pensacola approves agreement for Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. Memorial Plaza

Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal
·2 min read

A group trying to create a memorial plaza dedicated to Gen. Danial "Chappie" James Jr. at the foot of the new Pensacola Bay Bridge that bears his name won a crucial agreement from the city last week.

The Pensacola City Council unanimously approved a stewardship agreement with the Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. Memorial Foundation for a portion of Wayside Park that will serve as the plaza's location.

The group has been working for the last several years to try to get the plaza built to honor the famous aviator from Pensacola who was the first African American to become a four-star general in the U.S. military. The group secured and restored a display of an F-4 Phantom II, the type of aircraft James flew in the Vietnam War, and hired Ed Dwight, a sculptor who was the first African American astronaut candidate, to sculpt the larger-than-life statute of James that will stand in the plaza.

Over the last year, the group has attempted to secure the final funds needed to begin construction on the plaza.

The group is hoping Escambia County will approve using $750,000 in tourism tax funds to pay for the completion of the monument. But first the county needed an agreement with the city.

A rendering shows what the planned Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. Memorial Plaza at Wayside Park will look like.
A rendering shows what the planned Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. Memorial Plaza at Wayside Park will look like.

On Thursday, James' son, Claude James, thanked the City Council for approving the agreement and said getting the monument complete will be an important thing for the city of Pensacola.

"I know how these things can go two steps forward and one step back," James said. "I just want everybody to remember, he talked about this town for his whole career, and he never got to live here because he had a second heart attack a month after he retired. And for y'all to do what you're doing is really important."

He asked the city and the public to support the foundations to make the monument a reality.

Medal of Honor recipient and retired Command Sgt. Maj. Bob Patterson also spoke Thursday to thank the council for supporting the project.

The General Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr. Memorial Foundation is one step closer to building a memorial plaza to honor the Pensacola native and America's first African-American four-star General. The memorial will be at Wayside Park on the Pensacola side of the new bridge connecting Pensacola and Gulf Breeze. The memorial plaza will feature a larger-than-life-size statue of the General and an F-4 Phantom Jet, the type flown by the Pensacola native during the Vietnam War.

"I want to thank you for recognizing one of my fellow Vietnam veterans," Patterson said. "There's not many cities that will do it, and it's really good to see."

Chairman of General Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. Memorial Foundation, Cris Dosev, told the News Journal the next step is to go back to the Tourist Development Council and County Commission for the final $750,000.

Dosev said he hopes city officials will join them in their advocacy for making the monument a reality.

"We kindly invite them to advocate for the veterans for the community like they've advocated for people from outside of this community," Dosev said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. Memorial Plaza gets Pensacola approval