Ocoee to honor war dead at Memorial Day ceremony

The city of Ocoee will honor fallen soldiers at its annual Memorial Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 22. The event will be held at the Ocoee Lakeshore Center, 125 N. Lakeshore Drive. The public is invited to attend.

Retired Col. Shay Talley-Bradley will be the keynote speaker. Talley-Bradley retired from the United States Army with a decade of active-duty service and 19 years in reserve duty.

During her military career, she was assessed into the Air Defense Artillery Branch, PATRIOT Missile System, served as the Launcher Platoon Leader and the Fire Control Platoon Leader in Charlie Battery, 6/52 Air Defense Artillery Regiment and 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Katterback Kaserne in Ansbach, Germany. She conducted several operational deployments to Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel before moving to the Brigade Headquarters in Giebelstadt, Germany, where she served in the Operations Section, Officer-in-Charge for Land, Schools and Taskings.

In addition, the Ocoee Police Department Honor Guard will present the colors and Ocoee resident Sherrí Gladney will sing the national anthem. The ceremony will include a processional to the Ocoee Memorial Wall, where a wreath will be set in place. The Memorial Wall is inscribed with the names of Ocoee residents who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving their country. Ocoee Mayor Rusty Johnson and City Commissioners will recite the names of each fallen soldier. Ocoee High School student Marcus Jiao will play Taps.

For more information, call (407) 905-3100.