Charlotte County designates reserved parking for wounded veterans

June 18, 2013

A disabled veteran. Image by Expert Infantry.

Over forty businesses in Charlotte County now have VIP parking spaces for veterans who have been wounded in combat. The reserved parking spaces will be marked with signs that say “Combat Wounded” and a Purple Heart medal symbol. This parking program is a first for Florida.

The Gasparilla Gazette reports, “Forty signs were donated by the Wounded Warrior Family Support organization at no cost to the county. The Wounded Warrior Family Support offers Combat Wounded reserved parking signs free of charge to businesses across the nation as a public service.”

Installation was free too. Charlotte County signing and marking division employees volunteered to install the signs. The sign shop supervisor, Ouimet, said, “Six of the nine employees at the sign shop are veterans, and two are disabled veterans. Even our non-veterans helped with the installation. We were glad to install these signs for our veterans to utilize.”

Veterans overwhelmed by the gesture

Wink News reports, “Local veterans groups say this simple gesture means a lot to them. “I came out and there was a veteran standing out here with his camera taking a picture of the sign. And he said I’m a hundred percent disabled, I’m a Vietnam Veteran, I’ve never seen a sign like this anywhere and he said I’m taking a picture and sending this to all my family,” says David Donohew with Veterans Services of Charlotte County.

Veteran parking space challenges in other states

View this sign here.

Other states also designate reserved parking spaces for wounded veterans who received a Purple Heart. Temecula, California has some preferential parking spaces while Onslow, North Carolina has reserved parking for wounded warriors.

Unlike Charlotte County, the City of Temecula has paid $180 each for 30 signs. Parking spaces for wounded veterans in Temecula would be filled on the honor system. Retired U.S. Marine Cpl. Juan Dominguez pointed out that wounded veterans often require wider parking spaces. This is because they need to accommodate special lifts which are installed on their vehicles.

Greg Butler, director of public works for Temecula, said that the city would examine the width of parking spaces for wounded veterans. Similar issues may crop up in Charlotte County. Still, if reserved parking for wounded veterans is available throughout the country, the 2.9 million disabled veterans in America will appreciate the gesture.