Okaloosa County unveiled its second Charters of Freedom monument Wednesday at Veterans Park on Okaloosa Island, capping a Veterans Day ceremony that also celebrated four new statues at the Women Veterans Monuments and honored local veterans and their families.
The ceremony began at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center, where Col. Patrick Dierig, retired Commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, delivered the keynote address. Attendees then moved to the plaza at Veterans Park for the unveiling, led by Okaloosa County Commission Chairman Trey Goodwin.
Two sets of the Charters of Freedom
Goodwin told the crowd the monument holds duplicates of the documents on display in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. According to the county, the display includes stainless-steel replicas of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Civil Rights Amendments, donated by Foundation Forward Inc., a North Carolina-based nonprofit.
Goodwin explained how the county ended up with two sets. He said Parks & Facilities Director Jeff Peters brought the offer to the County Commission, and the board quickly embraced it. During a meeting in Crestview, Goodwin said, the city’s mayor suggested the veterans memorial at the Crestview courthouse as a home for the documents, while Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel proposed Veterans Park. The board then asked Peters to try to secure a second set, and he did.
- “Okaloosa County may be one of the only communities to have two sets of the Charters of Freedom,” Goodwin said. “But I think that’s fitting because, just like Colonel Dierig said, we are a military and veteran-friendly community.”
The county’s other Charters of Freedom monument, next to the Crestview Courthouse, was unveiled on Nov. 3.
Goodwin compared the documents to the airpark at Hurlburt Field, which Dierig had described as a way to inspire future airmen. He said the Charters of Freedom are meant to help recruit the next generation of patriots.
“It might be someone who’s going to pick up a rifle and go into battle, but just as importantly, and much more widespread, it’s somebody who’s going to pick up a ballot and vote, and that’s who we need to reach with these documents,” he said.
Goodwin encouraged residents to visit the monument and bring their families.
“The words don’t change. They say what they say. They mean what they mean,” Goodwin said. “I encourage each and every one of you, come and look at them, read them. Bring your children. Bring your grandchildren. Bring your friends and neighbors.”
New statues at the Women Veterans Monuments
Ketchel said the four newest statues had waited in storage while the county renovated the park.
The new statues honor Florence Ebersole Finch, Capt. Linda Bray, Sgt. Nicole L. Gee and an Iroquois Warrior from the War of 1812. The park’s statues were sculpted by Jon Hair.
Bray, one of two living women featured in the park, attended the ceremony and was recognized by the crowd. Ketchel said that in 1989, it was illegal for women to engage in combat, and military police were supposed to serve in a combat support role when Bray’s company deployed to Panama for Operation Just Cause.
- “The situation deteriorated to a point requiring action, and Captain Bray took that action,” Ketchel said.
Ketchel said Bray first received the Meritorious Service award, which was later upgraded. On Dec. 8, 2023, Bray was presented with the Bronze Star with V device, Ketchel said.
Ketchel also thanked civic groups that contributed $2,500 each for the granite benches placed at each statue, along with county staff who worked on the park’s improvements and new pathways.
‘Deeds, not words’
Commissioner Drew Palmer introduced Dierig, who retired in May after a 23-year Air Force career. Palmer said Dierig is a master navigator with more than 2,700 combat flight hours who shaped strategic defense policy for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and studied as a national security fellow at Harvard. Dierig now serves as a Senior Project Director at Fluor Corporation.
Dierig said he and his wife moved 16 times during his career, and no place he lived was more military-friendly than Okaloosa County and the surrounding region. He told the crowd that showing up to honor veterans is an example of putting plans into action.
“It’s deeds, not words,” Dierig said.
Dierig, the son of an Air Force loadmaster who served in Vietnam, said two of the women honored at the park stood out to him. He pointed to Lt. Sharon Ann Lane, the only American nurse killed as a direct result of enemy fire in the Vietnam War, who he said was killed while helping wounded soldiers. He also noted Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, a fellow Kentuckian who he said took the fight to about 50 insurgents in Iraq and led her soldiers with valor.
“If you can see it, you can be it, and I believe that,” Dierig said.
Dierig then gave himself what he called two homework assignments and asked the community to join him. The first was continuing to support military families, starting with children who arrive in local schools after a permanent change of station move.
- “Kids don’t ask to PCS,” he said. “I joined the Air Force. They didn’t.”
He said military moves often fall outside sports and club tryout timelines, and he urged schools to welcome new military students with clubs, sports, an ice cream social and a mentor on their first day. He also called for more mental health resources for military spouses and children.
“When I was on active duty, I had the best medical care. I just pick up the phone, and I’d call the clinic, and I’d get an appointment,” Dierig said. “Spouses and kids don’t get that.”
His second assignment was inspiring the next generation of service members. Dierig said opening the airpark at Hurlburt Field was one of his favorite days as Wing Commander because of what it offers young people who otherwise would only see the base from Highway 98.
“It’s not about the airplanes,” he said. “It’s about inspiring the next generation of airmen.”
Dierig closed by thanking veterans and their families.
“Thank you to our veteran spouses and kids,” he said. “You served just as much as those in uniform.”
Medal of Honor for Col. Howard Hill
The Florida Daughters of the American Revolution presented Col. Howard J. Hill with the DAR Medal of Honor, the organization’s most prestigious award. Cindy Addison, the DAR’s National Historian General, said the medal recognizes extraordinary qualities of leadership, trustworthiness, service and patriotism.
Rep. Patt Maney, a past recipient and a friend of Hill’s for more than 30 years, said Hill spent nearly 2,000 days in North Vietnam, received two Silver Stars and a Bronze Star with V, served in Grenada and served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense.
Maney said Hill went on to become a volunteer youth soccer coach and later president of the Police Athletic League, a role he still holds 25 years later. Hill has also served as president of the Kiwanis Club, as a longtime FWB Chamber of Commerce member and for 14 years on the Okaloosa County School Board, Maney said. He added that Hill has been involved in local America 250 efforts and in Congressman Jimmy Patronis’ push for a national cemetery in Okaloosa County.
- “So he’s as active and contributing today as he was the first day he came to Eglin Air Force Base,” Maney said.
Maney noted Hill and his wife, Libby, married after a two-week courtship and have now been married 59 years. Ketchel credited Libby Hill and other women with organizing across the state after their husbands were taken captive, and said the group created the POW flag.
Ketchel also recognized Kelly Humphrey, a Niceville High School teacher and former Northwest Florida Daily News writer, for her work on the medal application, presenting her with an America 250 scarf from DAR headquarters.
Americanism Medal and other recognitions
The DAR’s Choctawhatchee Bay Chapter presented its Americanism Medal to Simona Faroni, a native of Italy who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1997. Chapter Regent Mitzi Henley said Faroni and her husband, Guido, founded GS Gelato, which celebrated its 30th anniversary Feb. 5 and now has 150 employees who speak 10 languages.
Ketchel noted that Florida has the second-largest veteran population in the United States, at 1.38 million, and that 31,494 of those veterans live in Okaloosa County.
Elder Sylvester Echols, a Crestview City Councilman, gave the invocation. The Okaloosa County EMS Honor Guard presented the colors, members of the Children of the American Revolution led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Voices of Northwest Florida sang the national anthem.
Sen. Rick Scott, a Navy veteran, shared a video greeting. Commissioner Sherri Cox read a proclamation from Gov. Ron DeSantis recognizing Nov. 11 as Veterans Day and November as Veterans Appreciation Month in Florida. Graham Fountain, president of the Emerald Coast Sons of the American Revolution, read the County Commission’s Veterans Day proclamation.
Erik Thompson, a Director for the Air Commando Heritage Foundation, shared a video and spoke about the foundation’s planned Air Commando Museum, which he said will preserve the stories of Air Force special operations personnel from World War II to today.
More information on the monuments at Veterans Park is available at myokaloosa.com/bcc/women-veterans-memorial.
