TOPVETS club honors all veterans

U.S. Army veteran Bill Leitsch walks along a path with bricks engraved with the names of veterans at the TOPVETS Ocala Preserve Veterans Park on Nov. 6, 2024. [Photo by Andy Fillmore]

Ocala Preserve Veterans Club member Bill Leitsch doesn’t wear his feelings about his 25 years of service in the U. S. Army on his sleeve: He displays it on his back.

Leitsch, an Army aviator who piloted twin rotor Chinook helicopters, served from 1975 to 2000, including in Operation Desert Storm. He wears a shirt with the message: “U.S. Veteran—Been There, Done That and Damn Proud of It.” The shirt has logos and names of 13 military installations where was stationed, including in Alaska, Iraq and Korea.

Leitsch said he joined the Ocala Preserve Veterans Club, known as TOPVETS, because he’s “proud of his service” to the country and enjoys the camaraderie with fellow veterans and it is a “great thing” to assist veterans. The club recently sponsored two veterans on the Villages Honor Flight and also sponsors a host of veteran related causes in the area.

The 501(c)(3) TOPVETS is “dedicated to building a strong, functional team of volunteers who can respond to the needs of veterans in our Ocala Preserve community and countywide,” according to the club’s website, topvets.org

TOPVETS Vice President Glennon Neubauer, a U.S. Navy veteran, served in the Vietnam War in 1967 in SH-3A helicopters and said he “lost a lot of friends” in multiple aircraft crashes.

Club secretary Bruce Sprecher served for 30 years from 1974 to 2004 in the U.S. Air Force and as a public affairs officer handled information flow for the B-2 stealth bomber and more.

Vicki Welsh, a club member, served in the Army from 1979 to 2011. Her military occupations have ranged from field artillery to medical service and she attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Although members may hail from many different areas, as veterans they have a “common understanding and can relate to each other and know there’s a role for everyone,” Sprecher said.

The club’s primary fundraiser is the Veterans Day Golf Classic, which is held at the community and is open to the public. This year the event is set for Nov. 12 and a silent auction and raffle is included. The golf event raises around $25,000 annually, according to a club official.

Sprecher provided a fact sheet that stated the club has donated so far this year $20,500 to area causes including Marion County Veterans Helping Veterans, Guardian Angels Service Dogs, Friends of Marion County Veterans Park, North Marion High School Air Force JROTC, the Marion County Veterans Coalition for Veterans and Villages Honor Flight.

The club established a veterans park in 2022 on Ocala Preserve property, which has attractive landscaping, a spacious central area for events, a tall flagpole with a dedication plaque and an arch shaped walkway lined with engraved bricks honoring veterans. The plaque states the engraved bricks “pay homage to those veterans who died defending our nation; to honor those who have served; and thank those currently serving.”

Engraved bricks honor veterans such as Army Lt. Henry C. Grotyohan, who served in World War II from 1941 to 1946 and in the Battle of the Bulge, and many more who served.

Events held at the park include Memorial Day and flag retirement ceremonies. North Marion High School Air Force JROTC cadets have partnered with the TOPVETS club to provide a color guard at park events and meet with the club members who can share their experiences with the cadets.

The unit’s commander, Col. Keith Cunningham, explained in an email that the cadets
“have partnered (with TOPVETS) for several years … our cadets support their activities and charitable fundraisers many times each year.”

Cunningham said the cadets provide a color guard and drill team for ceremonies at the park and the veterans teach “honor and respect” for the American flag during flag retirement ceremonies,

Cunningham stated the “real value” of the cadet and TOPVET member meetings is the sharing between generations.

“Our older veterans can see hope in our future, that there are young people with character and patriotism; and our cadets can meet face-to-face some of our country’s heroes and be inspired by their sacrifice and loyalty to our freedoms,” he wrote.

Cunningham forwarded the text of a speech that will be given on Veterans Day (Nov.11) by cadet Kalea Gamoneda at the TOPVET’s Veterans Park. Gamoneda, a senior at NMHS, is the JROTC group superintendent and set to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, Cunningham stated.

“These veterans are committed and have sacrificed much to protect and uphold the values of our republic. As teenagers, we are still learning to appreciate just how good we have it in the good ‘ole U.S. of A. As cadets, we are learning that those freedoms do not come for “free.” They were fought for and in many cases purchased with blood,” she wrote in her speech.

“We find it difficult to fathom the depth of commitment they made to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We understand that when they made that oath, they wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount of up to, and including their lives. This is true honor. This is true loyalty to our country …,” she wrote in part.

For more information about the TOPVETS and the Nov. 12 Veterans Day Golf Classic, go to topvets.org

From left, Ocala Preserve Veterans Corporation (TOPVETS) Secretary Bruce Sprecher, Vice President Glennon Neubauer and member Bill Leitsch pose Nov. 6, 2024, next to a plaque that marked the dedication of the club’s Veteran Park at Ocala Preserve on Veterans Day 2022. [Photo by Andy Fillmore]