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Digital Collection - Florida Studies Center
1-1-1960
Remember the 'Maine,' to hell with Spain!
Hampton Dunn
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Scholar Commons Citation
Dunn, Hampton, "Remember the 'Maine,' to hell with Spain!" (1960). Digital Collection - Florida Studies Center Publications. Paper
2752.
http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/flstud_pub/2752
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"REMEMBER THE ’MAINE,’ TO HELL WITH SPAIN!"
By HAMPTON DUNN
KEY WEST --- The people who lived in this remote Florida Keys capital had a front row seat for
the brief but violent Spanish-American War near the turn of the century. And there are many
memories of that conflict existing here today.
The final straw that broke relations between the U.S. and Spain during the Cuban struggle for
independence was the sinking of the battleship, "The USS Maine." She was blown up in Havana
harbor on Feb. 15, 1898. Spain sought arbitration over responsibility but the American public,
inflamed by a noisy metropolitan press, called for war. It is said that William Randolph Hearst’s
coverage of the Maine sinking "still stands as the orgasmic acme of ruthless, truthless newspaper
jingoism."
The Maine and her crew had spent much tame in Key West. Townsfolk gave them a big party the
night before they sailed for Fort Jefferson and Havana. The shocking news of her sinking
reached here by motor launch, and Key West became the news center of the nation as reporters
flocked here to get near the war action. About 50 of the Maine sailors were rushed to the hospital
here, where they died. They’re buried in an enclosed area of the Key Vest Cemetery. A
monument of a sailor was erected by local citizens to honor the lads. Yearly services are held in
their memory. One of the turrets from the Maine is displayed at the corner of Southard and
Margaret streets.
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