Two new statues to honor women veterans at Okaloosa Island event

OKALOOSA ISLAND, Fla. — Two new statues will be unveiled during Okaloosa County’s annual Women Veterans Day ceremony on June 12 at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center.

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Col. Kristen Wood, Commander of the 1st Special Operations Mission Support Group, will deliver keynote remarks at the 8 a.m. event. A wreath-laying ceremony will follow at the Women Veterans Monuments in Veterans Park, where the new statues will eventually be installed.

The event honors President Harry Truman’s 1948 signing of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, which officially permitted women to serve as regular members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Florida officially recognized Women Veterans Day by proclamation in 2021.

“This event has become a beloved tradition for everyone in our community to recognize and appreciate the women who have served in our military since the Revolutionary War,” said Okaloosa County Vice Chairman Carolyn Ketchel.

Ms Ketchel added that the Women Veterans Monuments serve as a lasting tribute to the legacy of military service by women, not just on Women Veterans Day, but year-round.

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The new bronze statues commemorate the service of Captain Linda Bray and Florence Ebersole Smith Finch.

Captain Bray, a U.S. Army officer, led her company during a 1989 firefight in Panama. Despite laws at the time prohibiting women from combat roles, she took command during the crisis. She was recently awarded the Bronze Star with V Device for valor.

Captain Linda Bray in uniform in front of a military police Humvee — Captain Linda Bray led U.S. troops during a combat operation in Panama in 1989, defying policies that barred women from combat roles. (Contributed)

Portrait of Florence Ebersole Smith Finch in Coast Guard uniform — Florence Ebersole Smith Finch risked her life helping American prisoners of war (POWs) during World War II and later served in the U.S. Coast Guard. (Contributed)

Florence Finch, born to a Filipino mother, worked with the Philippine underground during World War II to smuggle supplies to American POWs. She was captured and tortured by Japanese forces. After surviving imprisonment, she joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1945 and was awarded both the Medal of Freedom and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon.

The existing Women Veterans Monuments at Veterans Park were unveiled in 2021 and honor eight women who served in combat across multiple military conflicts. The life-sized statues line a quarter-mile path surrounded by native wildlife, including a rookery of great blue herons.