Okaloosa County will hold its third annual Women Veterans Day ceremony June 12 at 8 a.m. at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center, where two new bronze statues honoring women veterans will be unveiled.
- The ceremony will feature keynote speaker Col. Kristen Wood, Commander 1st Special Operations Mission Support Group. A wreath-laying ceremony will follow at the Women Veterans Monuments at Veterans Park.
The two new statues recognize Captain Linda Bray and Florence Ebersole Smith Finch. Both statues will be placed into the existing park at a later date.
Captain Linda Bray led her U.S. Army company during a firefight in Panama in 1989 and was recently awarded the Bronze Star with V Device for her actions. At the time, it was illegal for women to engage in combat, but Bray acted when the situation deteriorated.
Florence Ebersole Smith Finch, who was half Filipino, worked with the Philippine underground to smuggle supplies to POWs during World War II. After being imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese, she joined the Coast Guard in 1945 and was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon and the Medal of Freedom.
“This event has become a beloved tradition for everyone in our community to recognize and appreciate the women who have served in our military since the Revolutionary War,” said Okaloosa County Vice Chairman Carolyn Ketchel. “We are fortunate to have a place that honors the tradition of women’s service with the Women Veterans Monuments on this special day but also throughout the year.”
The observance recognizes President Truman’s signing of the Women’s Armed Service Integration Act establishing the Women’s Army Corps in the Regular Army and authorizing the enlistment and appointment of women in the Regular Air Force, Regular Navy and Marine Corps. Women Veterans Day was recognized by the State of Florida by proclamation from Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021.
In 2021, Okaloosa County unveiled the Women Veterans Monuments at Veterans Park. A total of eight women who served in combat during various U.S. military conflicts are honored at Veterans Park with life-sized bronze statues strategically placed along a quarter-mile path. The park is surrounded by native wildlife that includes a nearby great blue heron rookery.
- The two new statues are part of four new bronze statues and plaques the county approved for addition to Veterans Park in June 2024. The statues cost $372,255 (tourist development funds) and are being created by Jon Hair Monumental Sculpture, LLC, the same artist who created the park’s first eight statues.
The four new honorees represent conflicts and branches of the military that had not been previously recognized in the park. In addition to Bray and Finch, the remaining two statues will honor an Iroquois Woman Warrior from the War of 1812 and Nicole Gee, a Marine who served during the evacuation of Afghanistan.
One Response
I don’t wish to downplay the honorable service played by each of these women. I must point out that the county and state have failed to remove the several hundred popcorn trees taking over around the easternmost ponds and along the existing Women Veterans Park. The State knows and is awaiting pictures as evidence of those numbers. The county knows about them and will tell you they cut them when they have spare people. They haven’t because they don’t have personnel to remove a statewide recognized invasive species, but they can use funds for erosion control projects and to add to the memorial park in exactly the area where these trees are rapidly taking over. That’s not good stewardship to the rookery or the park.