- July 26, 2024
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Fred Costello participates in the laying of the wreath during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
A percussionist with the Daytona Beach Concert Band performs during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Ormond Beach Cub Scouts present the colors during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
U.S. Marines Cpl. Michael Roy hoists the American flag during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Cub Scouts salute the flag during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Vietnam veteran Jim Drake salutes the flag during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Marvin Miller carries the American and Ukraine flags during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington presents a proclamation during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Ormond Beach City Commissioner Susan Persis, School Board member Carl Persis, City Commissioner Dwight Selby and Florida Rep. Tom Leek. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Former Florida Rep. and former mayor Fred Costello delivers the memorial remembrance address during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Veterans Jim Drake and Bob Adkins spoke during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1048 President Bob Adkins speaks during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Vietnam veteran Jim Drake speaks during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Veterans attend Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Retired U.S. Army Major Chaplain Rabbi Howard Schwartz, VVA 1048 President Bob Adkins and Marvin Miller. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Veterans stand for recognition as their branch's song is played by the Daytona Beach Concert Band during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Retired Army Major Chaplain Rabbi Howard Schwarts and U.S. Navy Rev. Willie Branch, Jr. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
People stand as the ceremonial wreaths are placed during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Marine Cpl. Michael Roy performs the tolling of the eight bells during Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Ormond Beach City Commissioner Troy Kent and his wife, Heather, lay flowers at the conclusion of Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Capt. James Ormond Chapter of the DAR member Beverly West lays a flower down at the conclusion of Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Ormond Beach City Commissioner Susan Persis kisses a flower before placing it down at the conclusion of Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Florida Rep. Tom Leek pays tribute to fallen veterans after he lays a flower down at the conclusion of Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
People honor fallen veterans by placing flowers down at the conclusion of Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Members of the Daytona Beach Concert Band sing at the conclusion of Ormond Beach's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service on Monday, May 30. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Former Florida Rep. Fred Costello pushed the podium forward before beginning his speech on Monday, May 30, at Rockefeller Gardens, standing beneath the covered amphitheater that has bore his name since 2019. He looked out over the crowd that had gathered on the lawn for the city's annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service.
"Glory, glory, hallelujah," he said, and mentioned how honored he felt to be there.
Costello, a former Ormond Beach mayor and retired dentist, served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Vietnam Veterans of America chapter 1048 and the American Legion, he centered his speech around the sacrifice those serving in the armed forces have given, and are prepared to give.
"All veterans wrote a blank check to defend our American heritage of self-government to protect the enduring calling of individual liberty and freedom, so the USA can continue to be the beacon of freedom and individual opportunity throughout the world," Costello said. "America is more than a country. It is a dream that lives within each one of us."
Memorial Day is a time to remember and honor the veterans who died during service, he continued. It is not a celebration, but a time for personal reflection.
He invited two local veterans to speak during the service as well: Vietnam veterans Jim Drake and Bob Adkins.
Drake, who served in Vietnam from 1968-1969. He's one of the lucky ones who came back, he said. His best friend, Donald E. "Rusty" Sizemore did not. The two had gone to the same high school. Drake joined the Navy; Sizemore wanted to be a Marine.
"I honor him every Memorial Day and every Veterans Day," Drake said. "He's buried in Holly Hill at the Oak Crest Cemetery."
Adkins said that for him, every day is Memorial Day.
"We should never ever let our fallen be forgotten," said Adkins, who is the president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1048. "Every day, they should be remembered. That is what this day is about."
As the veteran recovery officer for the Missing in America project — an initiative that aims to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of U.S. veterans and their immediate loved ones in national cemeteries across the country — Adkins asked for help from the community to continue to give veterans a proper military burial. The last call to honor he and and a small group of individuals completed saw the burial of 24 veterans and veterans wives. The local project chapter paid for it all.
"It is something that is so great and dear to my heart — knowing that there are veterans sitting in cans on shelves in this state of Florida and funerals homes, of veterans, veterans' wives — that are waiting for someone like me to come and get them and bury them in a national cemetery," Adkins said. "That's my project for the rest of my life, and I need help."
The ceremony also featured the Daytona Beach Concert Band, the laying of the ceremonial wreaths and tolling of the eight bells, which honors a sailor's end of watch.
Memorial Day is a difficult day for many, Costello said.
"There are those who mourn family members, whose selfless service led them to be laid in ground hallowed by the blood that they spilled," Costello said. "There is the living warrior who sheds tears that are seen and unseen for the brother or sister that put on a uniform with them, but never returned to take it off again. For these and many more, Memorial Day carries with it a weight that few can comprehend."
