Hello, everyone.

I'm Rebecca Vincent Leary, and welcome to this edition of Connecting the Community.

Our country has a rich history, and this show is dedicated to honoring our military veterans for their service with a special tribute throughout the broadcast, we will honor various facets such as Gold Star and Surviving Families, local Veterans, memorial parks, including monumental strides made by women veterans.

But first, we'll update you on the progress of the general Daniel Chappy James Junior Memorial.

Indeed, this local hero was a trailblazer whose career spanned three wars.

To get the conversation started, I'm happy to welcome Cedric Alexander, a General, Daniel Chappie, James Junior Memorial Foundation board member.

He's joined by Rob Gregg, co-chair of the Gulf Coast Veterans Advocacy Council.

We also have Lori Mockus, director of the Military and Veterans Resource Center at the University of West Florida.

And to further discussion, it is a pleasure to introduce Kevin Cropp, program coordinator for the Pensacola State College Veterans Student Success Center.

Welcome to all of you.

I see those smiles over there.

Cedric, let's start with you.

Please give us a general overview of your association with the board and how long have you been a member?

Well, I've been retired about three and a half years, four years now.

So once upon my return home here to Pensacola, I became involved with the board a couple of years ago.

So it has been a just wonderful experience to me be part of this.

And I can understand why, because you have a little bit of a back story.

Don't you?

You were actually a student of his mother.

Why don't you tell us a little bit about that?

Yeah.

Yeah.

If you go back to the sixties still during the time of segregation in this community, Mr. James had a school.

His mother, General Daniel Champion.

Yes.

Mother had a school there on Acne Street, which is now a museum.

And very early on in those years, she old ways have felt that a lot of black students were not getting a good education.

So she opened up a school that's part of the history.

And myself, along with another number of people who I grew up with here in Pensacola, attended her school in a very early formative years.

And she was a delightful, wonderful woman that always and I remember this very vividly being six, seven years old, always teaching us about even at that very young, tender, tender age, the importance of education, but not just education, but service as well.

And that certainly has spanned it over the last 40 years, I could imagine.

So we'll get back to you momentarily.

Now, Rob, hearing that information, it sort of reminds me of the museum.

And I'm sure that there are pictures of her right there.

But I know our viewing audience would like an update on the status of the memorial.

So, Rob, why don't you tell us a little bit about what's going on with that?

Well, as with everything, it's been very fluid.

So the hope is that we will be able to open it in sometime in 2024.

And we are really awaiting that because here in WC sorry, we were at the Memorial Plaza groundbreaking ceremony.

It was sensational.

Matter of fact, we have something that we would like to share with you.

Two of General James's relatives were there that afternoon.

Take a look.

My grandfather loved the city.

This is where he grew up.

This is where his foundation was.

And he wanted his children like my mother, to have that same basis of love and support.

So he would bring them back no matter where he was living in the country or in the world.

They would always come back in the summers and spend time with his big family because he was the youngest of 19 or 20 children.

So if he had not been born, I would not be here.

But family was very important to him, and that concept of that little family expanded to the whole country and his patriotism and wanting to protect everyone.

He truly loved this city.

He really talked about it and he loved his family, wherever they were.

And I'm just glad to be here and to participate in today's ceremony.

These historic events like this are very important.

And like you said, it does help guide the future.

And then people can look back and say, hey, he did it, I can do it.

Rob, did you have an opportunity to meet these two ladies?

Actually, I did.

I met his granddaughter and she I call it a compliment.

She came to me and she said, you know, you remind me of my father and Bill based on the stature, because he was a very tall man.

What is the impact of the significance to this memorial in your eyes?

Well, not being born here, but taking this as my home, I speak to a lot of people, the CO the other chair of Gulf Coast, vet of advocacy, he was actually taught by his mother as well.

So I hear a lot of the stories about what the impact that she had on the community and always that thou shall never quit.

I like to argue with the Gulf Coast Veterans Advocacy Council.

I know that there are correlations and tell us what they are.

Oh, well, one of the things is that Gulf Coast Veterans Advocacy does two events every year.

The homeless veterans stand down as well as the parade, which is every year which will come and again happen every Veterans Day.

Sounds sensational.

Laurie, stepping over into your world, the University of West Florida, I will say Pensacola State College has a lot of partnerships.

And tell us a little bit about your role.

What you do.

So I'm the director at the Military Veterans Resource Center.

Our core mission is to help process the VA and the DOD funding.

But then I'm also a licensed clinical social worker.

So we brought the mental health into to it, and we try and do a wraparound service, pretty much helping them with any kind of needs that they need with a lot of them not even being educational needs just to make sure that they succeed.

Some of the specific educational benefits.

One that really stood out to me, personal college financing plan.

I found that to be pretty unique.

Why don't you tell us some more about that?

Yep.

So there is a it's actually the department of Education and the VA require us to let anybody know that it's going to be using funding from the VA.

They need to know how much money they're going to be spending before they start down their academic career.

Also scholarships.

And then we have military tuition assistance.

These are things that a lot of people may not know about.

And another benefit of having you on a show like this.

Yes.

So individuals who are active duty can use to and UW offers some waivers to pay for the remaining portion that is not covered by that side of it, as well as just other waivers to get them in-state tuition or active duty out of state waivers to try and make it affordable.

Now you're sitting next to my friend from Pensacola State College, Kevin, welcome to the college and we're happy to have you on connecting the community.

Thank you.

Your role as program coordinator, Veteran Student Success Center.

I get elated when I even say it.

Well, Pensacola State already has some veteran support programs to help with education.

The Veteran Students Success Center, you can think of it, is the mortar around all the bricks.

So what we try to do is help any veteran who's interested in attending Pensacola State or even their furthering education in any way of sitting down with them, evaluating what they're trying to do and where they're at.

And if Pensacola State is the best way for them to go, we will help them through the whole application process, help them with getting a transcript if they have any other college education, high school transcripts, and also help them with getting their military information that they may have college credit for and get them enrolled in classes and tracking the whole way through.

And then also, like Lori does, make sure that they have access to the community assistance that they need if they run into any issues outside of the academics.

Kevin I will say this facility is state of the art.

Imagine yourself walking into it.

I know that you have a lot, but viewers, imagine yourselves allowed computers wi fi.

Tell us about some of the other perks.

We also can lend a veteran a computer if they need one for a semester or two.

We will do financial planning with them.

We will help a veteran maybe take a tour of a four year college close by.

And obviously we are well connected with UW, both not only on the civilian side but with the military connection that that veteran student has, someone that they can just go to that they know.

And so the handoff is very smooth.

And then we also are very closely tied with our Veterans Service office, which is works with the VA as part of financial assistance to make sure that the veteran is using their benefits properly and aware of everything they can take advantage of to help them get their education, get it paid for.

And I do know that Pensacola State College is a military friendly school over and over again.

So many years that that award has been presented to our college.

Does that make you feel good?

Yes, it does, because run the spectrum of someone who's just trying to start out.

And we also run the spectrum of a veteran who already has a job and multiple degrees and is looking to finish up using their benefits.

So it's very nice.

Now, Cedric, you do so much in the community outside of your involvement as a board member.

Why don't you talk about that?

Because you wear a lot of hats.

You have worn a lot of it.

Yes, you have.

I've chief two major police departments in this country.

And of course, more recently, the commissioner of Community safety in Minneapolis, which was very first community commissioner of that day head.

So over the course of my career, has always been in public service, both at the federal, state and local level.

And I've also been a practicing clinical psychologist as well too, so which I no longer do, but it has been part of part of my journey now in my retirement, if you will, is to continue to to serve in communities where about care locally and across the country still today.

I will say, Cedric, you are such an able man.

I have done my research and we are so blessed to have you here in Pensacola, Florida.

You are doing quite a bit.

And I know Rob sitting right next to you.

You're a mentor to him.

Rob does so much in the community as well.

And Rob, I know that you share that level of humility, but your involvement overall with veterans not only at Pensacola State College and in the community, when you wake up in the morning, what is your first objective, that advocacy, that advocacy expand on that.

When you say that advocacy, oftentimes we like to think that vets have it all, everything planned out.

Most people think that people will go into the military, get out with all these benefits, but that's a microcosm of society.

They had the same problems and issues that the average civilian has, and they often struggle with adapting to civilian life.

So.

Well, said.

Lori, a couple of final thoughts regarding your perspective when it comes to military vets in general, as as Rob had said, the individuals just need support.

There's a lot of invisible wounds that individuals have that it doesn't mean that you should look at them or fear things that you see on TV are not always true.

They're just humans in general that need some empathy and guidance and resources and to let them know that they are welcome back into the civilian world and and they will thrive here with the support of the community.

And Kevin, we hear all the great updates regarding the memorial.

And I right across the bridge and I see the signage.

It makes me smile every day.

I know that you have at least maybe one short success story that you can share with us.

Well, we have a student who was working very hard on a on a specific project and was running into some roadblocks.

He came to us.

We worked through the issues.

Number one, we got him the assistance that he needed, put him in contact with the subject matter experts, and he was able to graduate on time and is on and off to better things.

And so it's very rewarding to see someone accomplish a goal like that and know that they're they're going to be contributing in a different way outside of the military.

And Lori and I need to come back from you in general a Veterans Week and tell us about the legislation that was passed regarding that.

So it's been a proclamation for veterans Week, and this year it was signed with the House bill from Michelle Represent and Michelle Salzman to make it a law.

So now the week that Veterans Day falls in, the Veterans Day falls and the whole week.

Exactly with Veterans Week.

And where can people find out more information about that?

Yeah, so you can go to Veterans Week, US dot com and it gives a list of all the events that are happening yearly and anybody can go in there and add their events as well to just keep people informed.

Speaking of events, when I mentioned partnerships between the University of West Florida and Pensacola State College, is there a specific event that you can think of that you all have played a role in consecutively, maybe recently?

I know that we attend each other's events.

So last year they had a memorial Day observance.

And, you know, we were there in force and every time we have something go on, you know, they have a representation there for us.

And so that's how we work together is to make sure that and then when we are conducting the event that that they make sure that their campus is aware of what we're doing.

And speaking of togetherness, Cedric and Rob, it is crucial in this world, isn't it?

And to have all of you joining us right here on connecting the community, this makes us feel good.

We appreciate all of you and thank you for being on the show.

Now, folks, as we head to break, you're in for a special treat.

I want to share this empowering features story from U.S. Army retiree Dave Glover.

We'll be back right after this.

Joined in 1999, right after right after high school and joined the Army.

When I walked into the recruiter's office, I knew I wanted.

I wanted to join.

I wanted to do something.

My grandfather was in the Navy.

My uncle was in the Army in Vietnam.

Grandfather of World War two.

And so I knew I wanted to do something other than just sit around in small town Michigan.

So when I sat down and recruiter's office, they asked me, you know, questions like, Do you like hunting?

I'm like, Well, yeah, I love hunting.

Do you like hiking?

Oh, yeah, I love hiking.

Backpacking.

Camping.

Oh, yeah.

Have I got a job for you?

And that's how I.

That's how I joined the infantry.

First duty station was Fort Myer, Virginia.

99 202.

And then second duty station was the 25th out in Hawaii.

2002 to 26.

That was in D.C. during 911.

That was the major event during that period.

And I was at the Pentagon doing rescue and recovery operations as part of Operation Noble Eagle.

Shortly after that, when I went out to the 25th, I then was one of the first at the very beginning of the war in Afghanistan, one of the first units out there in 2000, 2004 time frame.

We got to Afghanistan May 24 and were there until mid-May 2005, in which we helped stand up the first presidential election.

And I've got one of the ballots at home on the wall hanging up.

As part of that, you know, commemorative effort.

We went there was very much the Wild West, the insurgents, the Taliban, Al Qaida, US, everybody still trying to figure out.

They're trying to get really organized as a fighting force against us.

So it wasn't I don't want to say as deadly as it became over the years, but it still was pretty intense at times.

I think when I think when you look at people walking down the street and I find myself doing this, you know, you don't know anything about who anybody is really unless you lost your friends with them and you know, you've spent your life with them or met them personally as you're walking by a total stranger, you don't know their you don't know their back story.

And I find myself big cities, little cities, towns, you know, just people working construction sites.

You know, how many veterans are there in at large that we've never heard their stories or have similar stories?

I met I met a guy that he turns out he was a he was a combat controller and operated in the same area in same timeframe that I did in Afghanistan.

And we could have met at some point.

We could have had some interaction and never known it.

But he was one of the few people that have been and seeing the mountains that and that that area of operation that I have and understood and I think to myself when I walk down the streets and I see strangers, how many of those missed connections are there?

And it's not all doom and gloom.

You know, when you're downrange in the military, it's not all doom and gloom, you know.

And when you're day to day jobs in the military, we have a lot of fun, too.

And it's finding the fun that makes the doom and gloom bearable.

I'm proud to be an American veteran because I'm able to follow in the footsteps of heroes.

Hello, everyone.

During this segment, we're focusing on Gold Star families.

We have three special guests who will share stories and reflections of loved ones.

Now they're here to provide hope and encouragement for others while also stressing that we must never forget our fallen heroes.

It's a pleasure to welcome Jill Hubbs, general manager of WCR Re and also a Gold Star daughter.

She's joined by Susie Fernandez, a Gold Star mother, and Tim Spears, a gold Star father.

Now, Jill, let's start with you.

Please give us a broad understanding of what a Gold Star family is.

Well, first of all, it's an honor that no one really wants to to have a gold star family is a family who have lost a loved one, who have served and given their lives to the service of our nation during a time of war.

And, you know, it started way back in World War One when anyone who had lost a family member during World War One, they wore black armbands with a gold star on it.

And over time, banners were flown with If you had family members serving in the military, you flew a little flag in your window, a little banner that had blue stars.

And if one of your family members was killed, it was changed to a gold star.

Eventually, in World War Two, it became more established.

A gold star, Mother's Day was established.

And, you know, so through the years, it's been an honor designated to families who have lost someone in the service of our country who gave their lives serving to keep our nation free.

I know.

And how does this pertain to you specifically as a Gold Star daughter?

Tell us.

I am the proud daughter of Navy pilot Commander Donald Richard Hubbs, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam.

He actually served during World War Two in Korea, but two tours of duty in Vietnam and who was lost and is still unaccounted for in Vietnam.

So that is how our family became a Gold Star family and will delve a little bit deeper into that story momentarily.

And Suzy, first of all, a pleasure to have you on the show.

And I know our viewers are curious, how did you come to know Jill?

Do you have a special affiliation with her?

Yes, actually, as we all experienced loss not as long ago as perhaps Jill did, but mostly in 2015 for the for a large group of us, we started coming together to help bring a monument here to Pensacola's Veterans Memorial Park, the Woody Williams Memorial Monument.

So a little bit at a time, more and more of us came together to raise the money and to put this monument together over the course of a couple of years and meeting and and and we all grew together.

We're great friends at this point because we have an incredible bond.

And Tim, I know that you all are as a gold star, a father and your son football player, a state high school who served in the United States Marine Corps.

My brother served four years as well.

And when we're talking in our about vets in the affiliation that you have with these two wonderful people, what does it mean to you?

Every day to to wake up and to share these memories with them, the thoughts and the things that they're doing out in the community to help others?

Well, it's a it's an as Jill said, it's an honor that I wish nobody else.

Yes.

Would have to have.

So.

But that being said, I was honored to be asked to join the group that started raising money to put our Gold Star Memorial monument in Veterans Park downtown Pensacola.

And as you know, it's it's been an honor to get to know every one of the members along the way, learn their stories, meet some of their family members and things, and meet personally.

My story started in oh five when George was killed, and that was one of the main things that me and my wife said right after that.

You know, no matter what we do, everything will be for J.R. and to keep his memory alive.

And so that's, you know, all these years, that's that's the main thing that I worked toward.

And we will delve a little bit deeper into that story.

And I know Jonathan Spears and J.R. and honestly, a great human being.

We're going to find out more about him momentarily now.

Jill, back to you.

You were the executive producer of The Endearing film, They Were Our Fathers and back in 2006.

Tell us about the trip to Washington, D.C., and how all this started.

Well, I belong to a group called Sons and Daughters In Touch, and it's basically the the boys and girls who lost their dads in Vietnam.

And obviously, we're all, you know, grown adults now.

But as a child, I never knew anyone else who had lost, you know, their father in Vietnam.

And when I belong to this group, we came together to honor our dads.

And there were only fathers lost in Vietnam.

There were no mothers.

There were eight nurses actually lost, but none of them had children.

And the group came together.

And we go to Washington, D.C., to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Father's Day to honor our dads and to do a ceremony.

And so I had been a part of that for so long and learned the stories of so many different sons and daughters and their dads, just incredible stories of courage and patriotism and everything.

And I just really wanted to be able to capture that and share those stories.

And so I took a crew from SRI and we went and filmed the Rose ceremony on Father's Day and some of the stories, and that was how they were fathers came about.

Well, just to give our viewers a little bit of information regarding this in detail, the movie has been screened, screened, rather, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, and the National Navy Aviation Museum.

So a lot of people have seen it.

And with that said, Jill, let's transition into this story, because 1968, that was a year I know that you will never forget.

Tell us where you were when you found out about this and just your situation at that time.

Sure.

I was ten years old at the time in fifth grade, and my dad was in his second tour of duty.

He was the commanding officer of 23, the world famous black hats.

He was very famous.

That was world famous squadron that did a lot of reconnaissance.

They were on that USS Yorktown station in the Gulf of Tonkin and, you know, just doing regular routine reconnaissance kind of things.

And my father's plane disappeared off the radar and just was gone.

I mean, to this day, we really don't know what happened to my dad or his three crew members.

The plane has never been recovered.

And, you know, I've actually gone to Vietnam twice myself to try to get answers.

And I have gotten some information.

But a lot of people don't realize even in Vietnam, there's about 1500 people who are still missing and unaccounted for.

And a through DNA and other methods.

And a lot of those remains are recovered and brought back and repatriated to the United States.

And, you know, through DNA, being able to, yes, positively establish the identity as a ten year old girl at that time.

How were you able to cope?

Well, you know, it's it's a hard thing.

It was a hard thing.

You know, even as a child, not really understanding the war.

The Vietnam War is very controversial.

So that I did understand because we would see protests and that kind of thing.

And, you know, people saying very disparaging things about our loved ones who actually were serving our nation, but never knowing what happened to my dad was a very hard thing, you know, And just to cope with a never knowing, just living in limbo.

And we were living in California at the time, stayed there for a number of years.

And then eventually, you know, my mom was from Pensacola, so we came back here to Pensacola.

But it's, you know, loss of any kind.

Right.

Is hard to cope with, but just not having any finality, not knowing, not having a place to go, you know, a gravesite, that kind of thing.

It's difficult.

And we're going to talk a little bit about what you're doing now to help others when we come back to you.

Susie, let's head over to your world Your son, Staff Sergeant, forcibly was killed in Afghanistan in 2015.

How were you notified of this?

What you typically see in the movies with the persons in uniform appearing at your door.

I had four of them at two in the morning.

I knew what it was when I heard the knock at the door.

I was by myself and and it's all synchronized and it's what they do.

And they were there for total support.

I think in the words of of Gold Star, I had the best care that was afforded to me by, in my case, the Air Force, the Special Forces unit.

And so we they took care of us very well.

So they were I had four men with me, four uniformed officers with me.

Can you tell us specifically what happened to your son and I so he was on his he had already completed four tours.

He was on his fifth tour, and he was just getting to Afghanistan.

He was with a very special unit.

He was the combat controller with some special Army forces and gentlemen on soldiers on a mission.

They were just getting to their area in Helmand Province.

They were ambush at the third checkpoint.

My son and the driver were both the only air force on board, and they were immediately killed.

No other persons were killed.

All the Army Rangers were able to kill the the what are the enemy animals?

They had dressed in the uniform of the Taliban that they were or excuse me, the the Afghanis.

They were helping the soldiers.

That's what they were there to do is to help them, to learn, to teach to to, you know, everything that we know as a country to do.

And I understand that your son entered active duty in 2008.

And I looked at his accolades, So many military awards.

Yes, he lived for this.

He loved this Bronze Star with valor, three Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart.

Can you tell us the significance of a Purple Heart?

A Purple Heart is usually given to someone who survives a or does not survive a wound in combat.

I also belong to the Purple Heart Association locally because of forest.

But I just represent because he gave his life.

And and I do know some people that were terribly wounded.

So it's a it's an honor.

Every award he got is and is an honor.

A couple of the other ones, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Combat Action Medal.

And I know every day that you wake up, you have your reflections and you're out there helping people.

And it's so important that we remember our fallen heroes and also be with you momentarily, Tim.

So the United States Marine Corps, my brother, served in the Corps for four years, went to Parris Island, a very famous place for basic training.

I'm not sure if J.R. went there.

Where did he have his?

He went Fairchild.

He went to Parris Island.

So tell us about that day, October 23rd and 2005. started out as a normal Sunday, you know, spent time with you, with the girls and my wife.

And that evening, it was about 6:00.

The girls we'd just made dinner was sitting.

The girls were sitting at the table.

And matter of fact, they had a friend of theirs over there spend the night.

And me and Marie took our plates into to the family room, sitting there watching TV and just out of the blue, there was a knock on the door.

And my oldest daughter, Jessie, who was nine at the time, she got about halfway to the door and I couldn't see the actual door could only see up toward the door where I was sitting.

But all of a sudden, I think Jessie just stopped.

She froze and started screaming.

So then I threw my plate down.

I ran to her and I looked up and and it was like, Oh, Marine Corp right there.

They started standing at the door in its dress blues and a Navy chaplain standing behind him.

And it kind of get crazy after that little bit.

I don't know if crazy to right were but my daughter's in about this time.

Both my daughters are screaming because they knew exactly what it meant.

And by the time my wife got in there and she's going into hysterics and what did they tell you happened?

Uh, at first they didn't.

Or the staff sergeant didn't give us a lot of information.

At first.

He just basically said that Joe was in Ramadi, which we knew and he had been shot and was was killed at 816.

So in the morning and two oh at the time, that's really how we knew that he had been then killed.

And later on, we found got more details as the days and weeks went by.

Exactly what happened.

Well, I will say this.

I happened to read an article written by one of the staff writers for the Pensacola News Journal.

A lot of people came out for your son's funeral, several hundred.

He worked at the subways, sandwich shop.

He played football Itate High School, beloved young man graduating from Taita High School back in 2002.

And even up and down the highway, people were from Pete Moore Chevrolet to other businesses standing on the side of the road when the funeral procession came down the street.

So much love for your son and for other veterans in general.

And I know with your heart being so full at that time, just seeing that all these people came out to remember your son, what was going through your mind at that time?

To be perfectly honest with you, there's still a lot of those days.

And in first three or four weeks, because it was somewhat of a blur, kind of agonizing and very goes, J.R. didn't even get back to State.

It took him almost two and a half weeks to get him back here.

So, you know, it was it was quite a while just, you know, waiting before we could actually get getting back in Pensacola and was actually able to go see him.

But it the the day of dares to help.

You know, it's been 18 years and there's still parts of the funeral that I'd have no idea what happened during.

I do remember on the ride seeing quite a few people standing out holding flags.

He did work also at Lowe's over on Mobile Highway.

And at that time when you came around the back, you could see it and there were people out there holding flags for him.

One thing that was also mentioned in the article that your son was the first US service member from the Pensacola area to die in the war, and that was according to the Department of Defense.

Joe, back to you.

Because as we have stated previously, you, Suzy and Tim, have worked closely over the years.

Tell us about the Woody Williams memorial and the significance of it and your roles in that.

Well, honestly, none of us knew each other before before we came together to establish the Woody Williams.

It's a gold star Families Memorial Monument at Veterans Memorial Park.

Wendy Williams was a World War two era veteran who felt like that it was very important to remember the families.

You know, our nation is built on the strength of our nation really comes from our military.

The strength of our military comes from our soldiers.

And the strength of our soldiers comes from their families.

And Woody just felt like that family shouldn't be forgotten.

And so he established this monument that he wanted to have in every state in all of the 50 states.

And Pensacola's, the Gold Star families, a small group of us came together and we none of us knew each other.

And we've become like family since then.

Our monument was the 75th one that was established in the United States, and it's at Veterans Memorial Park.

It's very beautiful.

It's very meaningful to all of us.

What do you.

Williams was actually there when we did the groundbreaking for it and then when the the actual monument was established.

So he has since passed away.

But it was an honor for all of us to have him think of the Gold Star families.

And, you know, we hope to continue helping other Gold Star families in the area.

There are quite a few, actually.

I know that they are.

And we also really appreciate the three of you coming on, connecting the community.

And as I stated previously, we will never forget our fallen heroes.

Every day we will pick up that mantle and we will search for multiple ways to help everyone else cope.

And then, as we stated, remembrance.

Many thanks to all of you.

Appreciate you very much.

Thank you.

Now, folks, he is a familiar face in the community and an amazing friend of W.S..

Sorry.

As we head to break, it's a pleasure to share this special interview with us, Marine Corps veteran Stan Barnard.

Enjoy.

I joined the Marine Corps in July of 1969 and was sent to Vietnam in 1971, the beginning of 71.

Just getting there was a quite an event, but I learned as soon as I got there that we were they just started.

LAMB Some 719.

It was the largest helicopter assault of the entire Vietnam War.

It was unfortunate.

It a I had the opportunity to be there, But of course, everybody thought the many different things about the war that was going on.

But I personally had been and it had been instilled in me for many, many years to do what my country asked me to do.

At the top of the wall here is Chris are being he was the last person that I know of from Pensacola that was killed in the Vietnam War.

I believe him to be the last one from this area to be killed.

But his mother was actually here for the opening of the ceremony of the Wall.

And she touched alongside him, rose to his name and declared.

And that's when the wall was declared open to the public.

It was quite the day.

There were thousands and thousands of people here.

It's an honor.

You know, you don't think about it much when you're very young and you join the service here, you feel like you're patriotic.

But as the years go by, you, you you understand a lot more about what went on.

And it's it's a good feeling to know that I did what we did.

And and there there are kids out there today who are the same way.

There are boys and girls that are join in our service every day and they're putting their lives on hold in order to defend this country.

And that makes me very proud, just like in my time that the kids that joined today, they will get a lot out of it.

They get a lot of education out of being in the military today.

They'll learn different job skills and we'll help them grow up some to just like it helped me a little bit.

So you know, it's it's important that they think about going in the military today.

It's a it's a great honor to serve their country.

And they'll have that honor one day themselves if they join.

Well, in regards to how I feel, people should accept veterans today as is.

It's I would like to see it be just like it was after World War One and World War Two when our troops returned and the parades went on.

And even during the Persian Gulf War, the yellow, they call it the yellow ribbon war, people put up yellow ribbons and and it was a great thing for our country at the time it got behind the war.

Unfortunately, during the Vietnam War, it was so controversial, but and the veterans were it wasn't a good thing for our veterans at the time.

But over time, time heals.

And today is where, you know, the population of the Vietnam veterans are are looked upon differently.

And that's a good thing.

When I was sent to Vietnam, I was assigned to VMI 311, which was stationed and Danang and they flew a four jets.

And we, of course, provided air support for all the guys on the ground and they actually had one of the longest tours over there, you know, originally went into July and then moved up to Danang and and late 70, I believe it was, and being a part of that organization.

So it was a pleasure to serve not only in the Marine Corps, but in the Air Corps and the VMA 311 Mag 12 I'm very proud to be a veteran because, you know, I grew up here in Pensacola.

It was a I was accustomed to always seeing veterans here.

And of course, it's a Navy town for the most part for many, many years.

But today, with the organizations that we have here at in Pensacola, with all the training that goes on here, you have all the branches that come here for training for different things.

And it's good to see the I run into these kids at the park all the time.

Now, these men and women who come out to help us and they volunteer their time to be out here.

And it's just amazing that their their energy and their patriotism to this country.

It's still here.

And and it's an honor to be out here to help them help with the park.

Hello everyone.

A common theme resonating throughout the broadcast has been that we must never forget our fallen heroes.

During this segment will explore two special initiatives in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties that are commemorative.

It's an honor to welcome Butch Hansen, former chair of Veterans Memorial Park in Pensacola.

He's joined by Vickie Powers, manager of the Santa Rosa County Veterans Memorial Foundation.

It's an honor to have both of you on the show.

But let's start with you.

I like the fact that you were the former chair of the Veterans Memorial Park in Pensacola.

Please tell us about that position and the joy that you've had over the years.

Well, we found the the city of Pensacola has a beautiful veterans park.

Before I got involved with it.

But they they one of the new foundation to a veterans to to help manage the park, to be the stewards of that park and advise the city on on its function and what how it should be managed really.

So as a founding member of this new foundation and one of the early presidents, it's and it's an all volunteer foundation, a board of 13 members, and we're responsible for everything that goes on in the park for its maintenance, raising money for its future development, its operations, its daily operations and all the events that happen there.

And there are quite a number of events besides the large events that we do there and Memorial Day and Veteran's Day.

But there's all sorts of community tours, community retirement ceremonies, promotion ceremonies, and and the other big thing that we do is educating the community.

I love that we're all about, and particularly our children, because we're about honoring the fallen.

And it starts that people have to appreciate the sacrifice of those that have given everything for our country to know that it's worth it.

And hopefully they'll want to emulate that, that sacrifice.

Some interesting factoids.

K through 12 Curriculum lesson Plans.

I loved that when I reviewed the Web site.

Another thing that I saw, 2022 marked the 30th anniversary.

I was smiling from ear to ear.

Yes, we did have our 30th anniversary last year that the park was really started by a group of Vietnam veterans.

And the moving wall is this is ten years after the Vietnam Memorial wall was established in Washington, D.C., some local Vietnam veterans said we need a wall here.

And they and they convinced the city to give them that piece of land.

And then we call it the Wall South.

It's a half scale replica of the yes, the wall in Vietnam.

I'm in Washington, D.C. and it's it's the centerpiece of our our park.

We have lots of other memorials to every other major conflict.

But but the Wall South is is the centerpiece of the park.

And we get a tremendous number of visitors to come.

Will come back to you momentarily, Vicky.

2004 was a monumental year in Santa Rosa County, wasn't it?

Tell us about that.

So 2004, the Santa Rosa County Veterans Memorial Plaza was dedicated by some of our veterans and our I call him our founding father, Don Salter.

Where is the plaza located?

That's the million dollar question.

Our plaza is located on the beautiful Blackwater River on South Wheeling Street.

It's beautiful there.

I know it.

We have some amazing images, and I know it takes a village.

So tell us what we will see when we get there.

When you come to the memorial, what you're going to see is we have the beautiful black granite walls.

It tells the history of all the conflicts and wars that has occurred on our ground and off.

So back to you.

But hearing that, I know chills up my spine because we're always wanting to remember.

Yes.

And never forget.

I also saw on the website annual visitors 118,000 plus that many people coming through the Memorial Park.

I just think that's phenomenal.

Well, we do We every every day you can go down there starting at sunrise or even before and see people going through the park.

But we have we have a lot of military reunions come to this area.

I mean, the Escambia County, I think, has the highest popular nation of military veterans anywhere in the country.

So a lot of like to come back here.

We have the beautiful beach and they like to come to our park for a memorial ceremony to remember those that they've lost in there and their units and and special teams as they as they relive their their time in the service.

And so we get a lot a lot of community things.

We will work hard to get more school groups and community groups come down and and we'll give them a tour that's not just a tour of the area memorial, which spans the history of our country, but it is a history lesson.

It's certainly entry.

I was fascinated by the walk of honor And tell us, the associate scene with the bricks, if you will.

Well, the anybody who wants to honor their special veteran and I like to call it can can donate a brick and they come in two sizes, a regular four by eight inch brick or an eight by eight inch brick.

And it just how much how many how many lines of of text you can put on there and they.

And that's our that's our primary ongoing fundraiser to maintain the park.

So you donate a brick and we put it in there and it's everything from individual veterans to people recognize the unit that they served in or or were their own family members.

We have whole groups of bricks for family members, and we also have some sections that are for instance, there's a Naval Academy section.

So people that are associated with Pensacola that have passed the local committee, the local alumni chapter donates bricks.

We have about 50 bricks in that section also.

So.

Now, Vicky, I am curious, do you have anything similar?

Yes, we do.

Yes, we do.

I know you tell us.

We also have the I believe are three by eight bricks for our veterans that we placed in the memorial park and that can be purchased by family members, the veteran themselves.

We have approximately 8000 in there right now.

Wow.

And we still have room for additional.

When you say additional, do you mean a few more thousand?

Yeah, just a few more tiles.

Look inside above and then we can go all the way outside of the memorial if need be.

But they are more than welcome to come see us.

And we use that also to help maintain our memorial.

Some of the images that we received, Vicky, lots of veterans coming by the memorial Plaza just really touched my heart deeply.

Same as well.

But if you had one quick story that you wanted to share, what would it be?

Can you think of something?

Maybe someone who's really impacted you?

I do a lot of work on the the walk of honor down there.

That's one of the things I've done since I'm no longer the president.

But it seems every time we go down to put some more bricks in the walkway, we're touched by, say, Vietnam veterans that are coming.

And of course, there are oldest group of veterans in the country.

Now, some of them are just starting to deal with Vietnam and the people they know that they lost down there.

And I always say I'm there to help them find the names that they're looking for.

And you know that once they find it, it's going to be very emotional, very emotional.

One.

One gentleman came with his son and he had a list of names.

And so I, I said, well, they were having some trouble looking it up on the website.

So I helped them and I took them down to the panel.

And then I said, Well, before you, I said, What about all the other?

What about all the other the other seven names?

You said, they'll all be here together because the names on the wall are in chronological order of their death in Vietnam, and they all died together and it was his unit.

So it's a very, very emotional thing and it happens very frequently.

Very well said.

Butch and Vicky, we appreciate you also very much.

And we want our viewers to visit both of these sites, volunteer, do what you can to help.

It has been an extreme pleasure.

All right.

I would like to thank all of our guests for joining us.

I'm Rebecca Vincent Leary.

Remember to keep it locked in right here on WSC.

Sorry, PBS for the Gulf Coast.

So.