Field of Valor September 9 through 17
The Exchange Club of Niceville, in partnership with the Fisher House of the Emerald Coast, Inc., hosts the Field of Valor each year to honor service members from Florida that have been killed in action while serving in Afghanistan or Iraq since September 11, 2001. This week long event is free and open to the public.Over 350 large American flags, measuring 3 feet by 5 feet and mounted on 8-foot poles, will be displayed in perfect rows and columns on the grassy field at the north end of the Mullet Festival grounds in Niceville, Florida. Each flag bears the name of a service member who gave his or her life while stationed in Afghanistan or Iraq. Volunteers and flag sponsors needed. For more information click here.
First things first, NEVER FORGET. This is most definitely a Patriot’s Day event – a morning of contemplation and commemoration. But also one of celebration… celebration of the indomitable American spirit and the knowledge that we live in the greatest country on this earth.
The Fisher House at Eglin AFB, FL and its local support organization Fisher House of the Emerald Coast (FHEC) lost a great friend recently with the sudden passing of Major General Robert W. “Chedbob” Chedister USAF-retired. Chedbob, as he was known to literally everyone, was the Program Executive Officer for Weapons and Commander of the Air Armament Center at Eglin in 2006 when he, after being inspired by his wife Trecia, started the wheels turning for Eglin to receive Fisher House #48. I well remember the dinner he set up with me and several other members of our local community at the Eglin Air Base Wing Commander’s home where he and Trecia laid out their vision for the Eglin Fisher House, how it would complement the Eglin Hospital, and how it would support active duty, retired and family members while they sought medical care at the Eglin Hospital and in the local area. I had the honor of chairing the first FHEC board of directors and walked the property across from the Eglin Hospital with Chedbob and Fisher House Foundation CEO Dave Coker when they put a flag in the ground and said “We are building the Eglin Fisher House RIGHT HERE!”
