In their honor

Carolyn Smith, chaplain of the Marion County Veterans Council and a member of the Ocala Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, left, reads names of veterans who passed away as Beth Coleman, a member of the Ocala Chapter of the DAR, Earl Allison, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps League Marion Detachment 061 and Renée Coventry, regent of the DAR chapter, listen before reading additional names during a memorial event on April 6, 2024, at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette file photo]

The service and sacrifice of nearly 100 Marion County veterans who passed away from December 2025 through May of this year will be honored and remembered at the Semi-Annual Memorial Reading Ceremony that will begin at 9 a.m. on July 11 at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park

The honorees will include a decorated U.S. Army helicopter pilot who flew Hueys in the Vietnam War, a U.S. Marine with 20 years of service who met his wife while both were serving and an Army Air Corps member who flew support at Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and a former Navy Seabee and Marine with nearly 30 years of service.

The memorial reading ceremonies have paid tribute to local veterans for a number of years and include the reading of the veterans’ names by branch of service followed by the ringing of a ceremonial bell. The events include patriotic music, a keynote speaker and the posting of the colors by the Marion County Memorial Honor Guard.

Vietnam War veteran and On Top of the World community resident William Andrew “Andy” Hutchinson III, who passed away March 30 at the age of 78, will be among those honored. Hutchinson served in the Army from 1967 to 1974. He flew a Huey helicopter gunship during his deployment and received numerous decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, according to his wife of 50 years, Eileen Hutchinson.

“He went through a lot,” she said, adding that her husband’s war homecoming including someone spitting on him when he returned to the U.S.

Andy Hutchinson served as a helicopter flight instructor at Fort Rucker, Alabama, after service in Vietnam, Eileen Hutchinson said.

Prior to moving to Ocala, the couple lived in Orlando. He served for eight years as an Orlando Police Department officer and was medically retired in 1982 after he was assaulted by a group while on duty. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2024.

Gerald “Jerry” Miller, a Vietnam War veteran who was proud of his service in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1959 to 1979, passed away on April 12 at age 85. Miller went through basic training at Marine Recruit Depot San Diego, California, where recruits are nicknamed by some as “Hollywood Marines” and his military assignment while in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 was air traffic control.

Miller met his wife of 62 years, Doris Miller, while they were both stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. She was serving in the U.S. Navy.

“He was dating my roommate,” Doris Miller said.

She said her husband was proud of his service in the Marine Corps and “loved to wear his dress blues on any holiday.”

Jerry Miller worked as an electronics engineer in the aircraft industry following his military service and retired in 2009, Doris Miller said. The couple moved to southwest Ocala in 2018. They have two children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Floyd Blair, a World War II fighter pilot who flew a P-47, passed away on May 10 at age 105, according to an online Roberts of Ocala Funerals and Cremations obituary.

Blair joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and on D-Day, June 6, 1944, he flew a P-47 dubbed the “Ramblin’ Wreck,” likely a nod to his earning a degree in electrical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, on “low level ground support for Allied troops” during Operation Overlord in Normandy, according to the obituary.

Blair also served in the Korean War. His civilian career involved working with Westinghouse Electric and starting two electrical products manufacturer representative firms. He was the recipient of the French Legion of Honor decoration.

Todd Belknap, chief executive officer of Veterans Helping Veterans USA of Marion County, met Blair last year.

“I met Capt. Blair in 2025, a few short weeks before his 105th birthday, when he and his wife visited our offices,” Belknap said.   

“During our conversation, Capt. Blair spoke vividly about his time as a WWII fighter pilot over Normandy as if it were yesterday rather than 83 years ago. With a gleam in his eyes, he recounted how he and other soldiers started a five-piece band to help overcome the trials of war. He was the consummate gentleman who loved his country,” Belknap wrote.

Marine Corps and Navy veteran and former Seabee Larry W. Springfield, passed away on March 6 at age 76, according to an obituary published by the “Ocala Star-Banner.” Springfield had a combined service history of nearly 30 years, including combat service in the Vietnam War and Gulf War.

“He was a builder, architect and carpenter, but above that, he was a man of convictions and honor; known for his strong presence, unwavering integrity, trustworthy in his counsel, and ability to approach every challenge with confidence and clarity,” according to the write up.

The Semi-Annual Memorial Reading is presented by Marion County Veterans Services in partnership with Hospice of Marion County, the Ocala Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Children of the American Revolution Ocali Chapter, Friends of Marion County Veterans Park and Marion County Veterans Council. 

The Ocala Marion-County Veterans Memorial Park is located at 2601 SE Fort King St., Ocala.

To learn more, go to marionfl.org/agencies-departments/departments-facilities-offices/veterans-services