Saying goodbye again: Quarterly ceremony honoring deceased veterans will resume on Saturday
September 15, 2020 02:15 PM
Dave Bice of the Marine Corps League Marion Detachment rings a bell as names are read aloud during the roll call to honor the deceased during the Quarterly Memorial ceremony on January 5, 2019 at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park in Ocala.
Photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Star-Banner/File 2019.
By Andy Fillmore for the Ocala Star-Banner (FL)
A Quarterly Memorial ceremony at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park will be held again on Saturday after the May edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The quarterly ceremonies typically are a chance for the public to honor local veterans who died in the previous three months. Saturday’s ceremony is scheduled to include the solemn reading of the names of all Marion County veterans who died during the first two quarters of 2020.
Guests will be accommodated according to CDC safety guidelines.
"We want to honor these veterans." said Jeffrey Askew, director of the Marion County Veteran Service Office and overseer of park.
Quarterly memorials have been held for about 12 years at the park. Local military and veterans groups, including the Marine Corps League, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and several local honor guards, have participated.
Lewis Alston, a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War and a Purple Heart recipient, said the Marion County Honor Guard will be on hand for Saturday’s ceremony.
Bruce Lamoureux, a Vietnam War veteran and chairman of the board of the local chapter of the Vietnam War Veterans of America organization, said his group will read the veterans' names aloud during the ceremony.
Lamoureux is also a member of the Patriot Guard Riders, which provides flag lines and escorts for veterans’ funerals.
He said the PGR has resumed operation at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell under CDC guidelines. The group recently provided a service for a friend.
The Florida National Cemetery, located about 40 miles south of Ocala, provides burial spaces for veterans of the U.S. armed forces who have met minimum active duty requirements. The website https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/listcem.asp states committal services were suspended from March 23 until June.
Wilbur Julius, a 22-year Navy veteran and Veteran of Foreign Wars and American Legion member, has served at the Quarterly Memorial services at the park in Ocala for at least 10 years.
"This is the last goodbye for many of the families," he said.
If you go
WHAT: Quarterly Memorial Ceremony
WHEN: 10 a.m. Saturday
WHERE: Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park, 2601 E. Fort King St., Ocala
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