Veterans Day: Three North Escambia Memorials Honor Those That Served

November 11, 2009

wallofhonorstory.jpg

Three memorial walls in North Escambia — in Century, Barrineau Park and Molino — stand as tributes to veterans from across the area.

Century

centurymemorial.jpgAbout thirty of those that served from the Century area are now honored on the Century Veteran’s Wall of Honor that was unveiled in a 2008 Fourth of July ceremony at Century’s Roadside Park on Highway 29. For more information about adding a name to the wall, call the Town Hall at (850) 256-3208.

Click here for  photo gallery from Century Veterans Wall of Honor dedication ceremony on July 4, 2008.

Barrineau Park

bpwall22.jpg“In a way, it makes me sad,” Nancy Fillingim, the local resident that proposed the Wall of Honor inside the Barrineau Park Community Center, said. The picture of her husband, Aubie Fillingham, was one of the first photos on the wall. He spent 20 years in the Navy as a boiler technician and a criminal investigator. Pictures of his four brothers are also on the wall.

In all, over 100 Barrineau Park area veterans are honored on the Wall of Honor.

The wall was a project of the Barrineau Park Historical Society. Nita Berry, president of the organization, said the community has been very supportive of the project by providing the pictures. “It was something we could do to honor our veterans,” she said. “It’s a very small thing compared to what they did for us.”

For more information on the Wall of Honor, contact Nancy Fillingim at (850) 587-2266.

For a  photo gallery from the Barrineau Park Wall of Honor, click here.

Walnut Hill

The largest such memorial in the North Escambia area, the Veteran’s Honor Wall has stood in front of the Walnut Hill Community Center since its dedication in 2003. There are about 275 names on the wall, including 13 names of soldiers killed in action. The wall honors those from the Walnut Hill area that have served in the nation’s military.

memwh.jpgThe Walnut Hill Ruritan Club began planning the wall in late 2001, and they decided that it would be a community project at no cost to the veterans listed.

“If you are a veteran, you deserve to be there,” Walnut Hill Ruritan Club Past-President Billy R. Ward said. “You’ve already paid your debt; we wanted this wall to honor the veterans.”

On the Walnut Hill Veteran’s Honor Wall, everyone is equal. It was decided that no service rank would be included on the name plaques, just the branch and years of service.

The Walnut Hill Veteran’s Wall is located in front of the community center at 7850 Highway 97.

If you know a veteran from the Walnut Hill area (including Bratt, Davisville, Oak Grove and Enon) that should be included on the honor wall, call Billy R. Ward at (850) 256-2907. Or mail the veteran’s name, address, city, state, phone, branch of service, dates of service and your name and phone number to: Walnut Hill Ruritan Club, P.O. Box 35, Walnut Hill, FL 32568.

For photographs that include most names on the Walnut Hill Veterans Honor Wall, click here.

NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

5 Responses to “Veterans Day: Three North Escambia Memorials Honor Those That Served”

  1. Lawson on November 12th, 2009 3:07 pm

    The “Wall of Honor” at the Barrineau Park Community Center has been updated. The wall you see in the photo is now full and another wall is being prepared to accept more photos. If you or any of your family have served in the Military, just bring a photo of the person, in uniform, to the Community Center and tell us which branch that person served in and the years served. We will frame it and add it to the “Wall”. The 2010 calendars are out and the Wall of Honor is on the front. They are available from any Barrineau Park Historical Society member. The Community Center is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9-11 am.

  2. Janice Parker on November 12th, 2009 8:07 am

    Thank you, Rita, for where’s Louie.

  3. Ed on November 11th, 2009 9:16 pm

    Some stores have a wall of honor. I remember about fifteen months ago, when I would visit a Wall-Mart on Pensacola ave. north, they had a wall of honor on the left as you entered the store’s main entrance. I would stand there and look at the pictures and remember the days when I was in the Military. A few weeks later when I was at the store I noticed the wall of honor was gone. It was several days later, when I was in the store that I went to the rest room at the back of the store. As I rounded the corner to the men,s room, that’s when I noticed the wall of honor. At the back of the store, mounted next to the entrance to the ladies rest room. Of all the wall space in that store, they have to put the wall of honor on the rest room wall? That’s what they think of our GI’s. Ed.

  4. Where's Louie?? on November 11th, 2009 7:31 pm

    I see my two handsome cousins Clay & Monte Crabtree, but don’t see my equally handsome cousin Louis (their brother) in the pictures. I also had four uncles, Sam, Slim, Luke and Ed Dagen that served in WWII. Uncle Slim was killed serving his country. Uncle Luke and Uncle Ed also served in the Korean war to the best of my recollection. My brother in law John Cannon would be on a memorial in Jay. He gave the supreme sacrifice in the Vietnam War. My nephew Brett Dagen served a tour of Duty in Iraq in 2003-2004. He’s still in the army serving our country. And my great-great Grandfather Docia Barlow served in the Civil War with an Alabama unit. I had forgotten that their were so many family members in the military.
    I also had several cousins from Walnut Hill that served in the 60’s and did tours of duty in Vietnam.
    My thanks and appreciation for your service and sacrifice. I love you all so very much!!! I didn’t forget anyone did I? If I did you know I’m sorry & apologize in advance.
    Thank you and my prayers to all who have ever served in our armed forces and who are now serving.
    Go ahead and say it Louis, “that must be Pug”!! HA!!

  5. A.W. THOMPSON on November 11th, 2009 5:36 am

    ID LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK ALL OUR VETERANS OF OUR GREAT COUNTRY PAST AND PRESENT FOR YOUR SACRIFICE.THE ONES THAT LOST THEIR LIVES DEFENDING OUR RIGHTS AND FREEDOM.THERE IS ONLY TWO PEOPLE THAT WILL DIE FOR US AND THATS JESUS CHRIST AND THE AMERICAN G.I.. WITH THIS SAID WE SALUTE YOU.A.W. THOMPSON MOSQUITO FLATS ,FLORIDA