INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – There will be four opportunities Monday for Indian River County residents to pay their respect and remember America’s military service men and women who paid the ultimate price while protecting our country.
Services will be held in Fellsmere, Vero Beach, Sebastian, and at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum.
A Memorial Day Observance, sponsored by the City of Fellsmere will be held beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Lion’s Park. The park is located at the corner of County Road 512 and N. Broadway.
Refreshments will be offered at the Fellsmere Community Center following the ceremony.
The Veterans Memorial Island memorial program starts at 9 a.m. Monday.
Eric “Rip” Wieler, president of the Veterans Council of Indian River County, said the new starting time will allow people the chance to participate in both the Vero Beach and Sebastian ceremonies.
The ceremony will include placing a wreath at the marker of Petty Officer Ronald Scott Owens, in memory of all those who have given their lives in the service of our country.
Owens was killed in action while serving on the USS Cole when it was attacked in Yemen. The main speaker will be local resident Dr. Peter B. Peterson, a retired US Army colonel and long-time business faculty at John Hopkins University.
The ceremony will include various color guards of veteran’s organizations as well as the City of Vero Beach Police, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, and Indian River County Fire Department. Bagpiper Michael Hyde, a U.S. Merchant Marine veteran, will also be included in the ceremony.
The VFW Post 10210 and the American Legion Post 189, Sebastian, in conjunction with the city of Sebastian and other local veterans’ organizations will present a remembrance day program at 11 a.m. Monday at Riverview Park.
Included in the program will be the Sebastian River High School band, singer Debbie Hanford, bagpiper Mike Hyde and other city and county representatives.
A tribute to those fallen heroes will be presented by Army veteran and council woman Andrea Coy along with a wreath laying ceremony and Sebastian River Honor Guard salute.
At the southern end of the island, the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum will hold its second annual Memorial Day service at 10 a.m. at the museum on Highway A1A.
Guest speakers are Rear Admiral Thomas Brown and Arnold Schwichtenberg, a Navy veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
