- October 10, 2024
Loading
The city of Ocoee honored its fallen soldiers at its annual Memorial Day ceremony Thursday, May 23, at the Ocoee Lakeshore Center.
Retired Lt. Col. Colonel Yolanda Frazier, who has 30 years of service in the United States Army, serving in Kuwait and deploying to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, was the keynote speaker.
The Ocoee Police Department Honor Guard presented the colors, and Pam Jones read a message from U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster’s office. Ocoee High School students took part in the program, as well — Jaslynn Gaskin sang the national anthem, and Marcus Jiao played taps by the city’s memorial wall.
After a processional to the memorial site, at which a memorial wreath was placed, members of the City Commission read the list of Ocoee residents who died in battle: Billy Bennett, James W. Brown, James W. Bruce, Jack Corbin, Charles Day, Robert L. Day, Buford Gerald Johnson, Robert G. Fischer, Logan A. McNeil, George Robert Salisbury, James S. Simmons, Walter I. Turner, Dominic Ungaro Jr. and Eric Ulysses Ramirez.
Three Gold Star families were recognized. Margaret Colella’s husband, Ungaro, was killed in the Vietnam War two months after he arrived. Debbie Berry was 7 when her 21-year-old brother, Paul Lloyd Berry, an Army helicopter pilot, was killed in Vietnam. Gwen Taliver’s grandson, Sgt. Gene Hawkins, was serving in Iraq when he was killed.