By Walt Raysick
The Veterans Council of Hillsborough County invites the community to its quarterly Field of Honor Ceremony on Saturday, July 14 at 10 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park and Rear Admiral LeRoy Collins, Jr. Veterans Museum, 3602 U.S. Highway 301 N. in Tampa.
The summertime Field of Honor event is the third such ceremony for 2018 and will pay tribute to fallen heroes from April, May, and June. Names read will include law enforcement officers lost in the line of duty along with U.S. military servicemen and servicewomen who made the supreme sacrifice while engaged in our nation’s current War on Terror:
One U.S. Army casualty from Operation Inherent Resolve (Iraq, Syria and Yemen), One U.S. Army casualty from Operation Octave Shiel (Somalia), One U.S. Navy casualty from U.S. Africa Command, Special Operations Command Forward, East Africa (Djibouti), One U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilot lost during training in Nevada, Two U.S. Army personnel killed in a helicopter crash in Kentucky, Four U.S. Marines killed during a training mission in California, One U. S. Navy pilot killed in an A-29 aircraft crash in New Mexico, Forty-five previously unidentified remains of U.S. military members lost during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam (formerly listed as missing-in-action, now identified through advancements in mitochondrial DNA research) and tribute to fallen Law Enforcement Officers killed by gunfire, including three Florida Sheriff’s Deputies.
The Field of Honor Ceremony will also feature a banner presentation by Blue Star Mothers of Tampa Bay, the Young Marines of Tampa Bay color guard, a Missing Man Formation flyover by Ye Mystic Airkrewe, local Gold Star Families, patriotic music courtesy of VFW Post 8108, and a traditional rifle salute and taps by the Sgt. Walter P. Ryan Detachment 1226 Marine Corps League of Riverview.
The event, monuments and Veterans Memorial Park and Museum are all free and open to the public. For more information, call 744-5502 or 246-3170. Visit Consumer & Veterans Services at HCFLGov.net.
