Two days before this year s ceremony, in a somber annual event that prepares the grounds for Memorial Day, cadets from the Air Force Junior ROTC unit at Fort Walton Beach High School will place flowers on the graves of the more than 1,600 U.S. military veterans laid to rest at Beal Memorial. The cadets also will be on hand to assist with the May 31 ceremony.
In addition to honoring the nation s troops who died in war and the local veterans who have passed away in the past year, this year s Memorial Day observance will include recognition of those held as prisoners of war or listed as missing in action, and also will honor Gold Star families, the immediate family members of veterans who died while serving in a time of conflict.
FORT WALTON BEACH Local restaurateur and civic leader Tom Rice was recently awarded the President s Volunteer Service Award for his wide-ranging work in the community.
The award came with a signed citation from then-President Donald Trump reading, On behalf of a grateful Nation, I thank you for your service to your fellow Americans and those most in need. Over the past year, you have served as a model of the American spirit. Thank you for your enduring commitments to serving your community and our Nation.
Rice was unaware he had been nominated for the award until it was delivered to him recently by David Rose, a Florida Veterans Hall of Fame board member. Rose brought the award to the Magnolia Grill, the longtime Fort Walton Beach restaurant owned and operated by Rice.
Cliff Leonard. Saturday, he was presented the Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander-in-Chief Gold Medal of Merit by
Hal Roesch, VFW national commander.
Only a handful of veterans are chosen each year to receive the award, which is given for exceptional services rendered to the country and community. He also was given a lifetime membership to the VFW. The ceremony took place at VFW Post 7909 on Blanding Boulevard.
Leonard was a Marine from 1966 to 1968 and spent 13 months in reconnaissance units in the jungles of Vietnam. After his Marine Corps service and multiple other careers, he became a sculptor who creates busts of Florida Marines who died in combat. He gives them to family at no cost. Leonard has completed about 50 since he began making them 13 years ago.
Governor DeSantis and FDVA Deputy Executive Director Hartsell Highlight 2020 Successes Impacting Florida Veterans einnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from einnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MIRAMAR BEACH Walton County s Charlotte Flynt described her casting a vote for President Donald Trump as a member of the Electoral College for Florida as a bit of a 1776 moment. We had six documents that we had to sign, and when I signed one I noticed that it would be going to the head archivist for the U.S. Government, Flynt said. That s when it hit me: This is going to be there forever. I was thinking, If I felt like this, I wonder what the Founding Fathers felt like.
Flynt, who for seven years has served as Walton s elected Republican State Committeewoman, said she was the only person selected as an elector to participate on the Electoral College from the Panhandle of Florida. She said learning that fact was humbling.