Thousands Pass By Forgotten WWI Memorial Everyday
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS (CBSDFW.COM) - At least 30,000 cars a day drive on Camp Bowie Boulevard.
Many drivers pass by, and rarely notice a small, triangular park with a statue of a soldier holding his fallen comrade. People often don't notice the historical markers along the park's boundary either.
Even people who work across the street and see them every day, such as Kacie Loar, have no idea about the legacy of the park and Camp Bowie.
"I don't know anything about it or why it's there or who put it there, the meaning behind it," said Loar. "I'm not really sure."
In August, 1917 Fort Worth became home to an army training camp. It was an outpost of tents, trenches and training fields spanning more than 2,000 acres. At its peak, the camp housed nearly 31,000 men training to fight in World War I. Named after a hero of the Alamo, the post was called Camp Bowie -- a name the street still bears.
"So, does that explain the brick road and stuff?" Loar asked after learning about the army post.
Back then the roads connecting Camp Bowie to Fort Worth were made of asphalt with trolley tracks between them The split between the roads remains today.
"Now I can tell my kids about that because my daughter's asked me about that before," said Loar.
Before Camp Bowie shipped out its first division of soldiers, they held a parade in Fort Worth where 225,000 people lined the parade route.
Today there is a parade of busy people driving past the forgotten memorials to the men who shipped out 'Over There' a century ago.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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