Band Sergeant · U.S. Army
David Carlton Keene
1894 – 1951
A band sergeant with the 156th Depot Brigade at Camp Jackson, who later became one of the few motorcycle police officers in 1930s Hillsborough County.
The American Bios Project
Preserving the memories of the veterans interred at the American Legion Cemetery
The American Bios Project is a community service project dedicated to the preservation of the memories and the lives of the veterans interred at the American Legion Cemetery in Tampa, Florida. We achieve this goal through diligent research of individual veterans with the aim of creating detailed and accurate biographies that tell the stories of these veterans' lives.
Our goal is to record the stories of these veterans out of both gratitude for their service and as a means to encourage and inspire future generations. We dive deep into historical records in order to piece together the lives of as many of the service members buried here as possible.
Meet Some of Our Heroes
Technical Sergeant · U.S. Army Air Corps
Gordon Edward Durland
1921 – 1981
Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he flew B-26 bombers with the 557th Bombardment Squadron — a unit known as “Keller's Killers.”
Corporal · U.S. Army
Michael Joseph Leech
1891 – 1960
Born in the remarkably small village of Killucan, Ireland, a town of fewer than two thousand people, where he spent his childhood.