Honoring their service: Memorial Day ceremonies held Monday throughout Southwest Florida

Amy Bennett Williams, Fort Myers News-Press
Updated ·3 min read
Joseph Gill, 2, of Cape Coral waves a flag at his first Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 29, 2023, at Coral Ridge Cemetery in Cape Coral. Gill and his dad were among the crowd of around 400 people who came to commemorate Memorial Day.
Joseph Gill, 2, of Cape Coral waves a flag at his first Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 29, 2023, at Coral Ridge Cemetery in Cape Coral. Gill and his dad were among the crowd of around 400 people who came to commemorate Memorial Day.
Rachelle Frazzini puts flowers in a vase for her late in-laws on Monday, May 29, 2023, during the 42nd annual Memorial Day ceremony at Coral Ridge Funeral Home & Cemetery in Cape Coral.
Rachelle Frazzini puts flowers in a vase for her late in-laws on Monday, May 29, 2023, during the 42nd annual Memorial Day ceremony at Coral Ridge Funeral Home & Cemetery in Cape Coral.
A crowd of around 400 people came to commemorate Memorial Day on Monday, May 29, 2023, at Coral Ridge Funeral Home & Cemetery in Cape Coral.
A crowd of around 400 people came to commemorate Memorial Day on Monday, May 29, 2023, at Coral Ridge Funeral Home & Cemetery in Cape Coral.

With speeches, prayers and song, those who served were celebrated at ceremonies in Collier and Lee counties.

In Cape Coral, some 400 people were at Coral Ridge Funeral Home and Cemetery’s 42nd annual Memorial Day service, while in Collier County, veterans, families and others gathered at Hodges Funeral Home at Naples Memorial Gardens to commemorate the day

The annual observance is “our way of saying thank you to the men and women who have served and who have sacrificed,” Coral Ridge’s program chair Chuck Warren said.

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Brothers Greg, Mike and Danny Cook have been putting on the barbecue at the Hodges event for about a dozen years.

Thomas Gorman, 8, of Boy Scout Troop 226, helped distribute water at the annual Earl Hodges Memorial Day Picnic in Collier County, May 29, 2023.
Thomas Gorman, 8, of Boy Scout Troop 226, helped distribute water at the annual Earl Hodges Memorial Day Picnic in Collier County, May 29, 2023.

It’s a chance for them to honor the memory of their late father, Ronnal, who served in Vietnam with his identical twin brother, Donnie, aboard the destroyer the USS Keppler, said Ronnal’s son, Mike Cook.

From left: Danny Cook, Greg Cook, Paul Longstreet and Mike Cook at the 2023 Earl Hodges Memorial Day picnic.
From left: Danny Cook, Greg Cook, Paul Longstreet and Mike Cook at the 2023 Earl Hodges Memorial Day picnic.

Making the day more poignant was the presence at the ceremony of Punta Gorda U.S. Navy veteran Paul Longstreet, who served with the twins.

For the brothers to serve together literally took an act of Congress, which prohibited siblings from going into battle together after World War II.

“When my dad and uncle got into the Navy, they were on two separate ships, but they were both being sent to Vietnam and when my grandparents found out about it, my grandmother decided that yes, these are my only sons but I would rather they be together, to have each other if they’re going into a situation like that than to not know what’s happening to the other one.”

It took a request to then-Senator Strom Thurmond to get them on the same ship, Mike says, “But they were each other's best friend their whole lives.”

Another thing that makes it meaningful for the brothers is the holiday’s unifying effect.

U.S. Army vet, Afghanistan, Roxanne Allen with her son, Judah, 2, and her mother, Shirley Cooke, at the annual Earl Hodges Memorial Day celebration in Naples on Monday, May 29, 2023.
U.S. Army vet, Afghanistan, Roxanne Allen with her son, Judah, 2, and her mother, Shirley Cooke, at the annual Earl Hodges Memorial Day celebration in Naples on Monday, May 29, 2023.

“It’s nice (because) the community can come together,” Mike says, “I mean, we seem so divided on so many different things nowadays, but (this event) is for everybody who needs a place to go and mourn and where everybody can unite.”

Neapolitan enactors at the 2023 Earl Hodges Memorial Day picnic on Monday, May 29, 2023, in Naples. From left: Jim Clark, US Maine Corps, Vietnam; Joe Gibson, US Army Air Corps, WWII; Bryan Thaggard, US Marine Corps, WWII; Tara Gibson, US Army Air Corps; Jacob Winge, Continental Army, American Revolution; Sandy Clark, US Marine Corps, Vietnam; Jeffrey Wait, Florida Cattle Guard Battalion, Civil War; Matthew McCague, 47th NY Division, Civil War; Billy Pascucci, Confederacy, Civil War.

Beyond a picnic provided by the brothers, the Naples event, presented by the Collier County Veterans Council, included a musical prelude by Pine Ridge Middle School under the baton of Music Director Kelly Parker and help from area Boy Scouts.

Maestro Kelly Parker leads Pine Ridge Middle School band members at the annual Earl Hodges Memorial Day picnic and celebration in Naples on Monday, May 29, 2023.
Maestro Kelly Parker leads Pine Ridge Middle School band members at the annual Earl Hodges Memorial Day picnic and celebration in Naples on Monday, May 29, 2023.

“Today we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our great country,” said Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk. “Memorial Day is a day for us to remember our fallen and the courageousness of their service.”

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, began during the American Civil War when citizens placed flowers on the graves of those who had been killed in battle.

After World War I, it serves to honor those who died in all U.S. wars, and its name changed to Memorial Day. The nation pays tribute on the last Monday in May annually.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Memorial Day ceremonies held Monday throughout Southwest Florida