Nam Knights off to the races in Leesburg

I see bed people!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 24, 2018

Yesterday at Gator Harley Davidson in Leesburg Florida, the Green Swamp chapter of the Nam Knights had a unique fund raiser. They had groups race with costumes pushing beds. Yes, beds.

Members of some businesses, police officers, firefighters, Marines and one of them did pushups on the bed, Soldiers and even SWAT. Naturally SWAT had to top everyone with blowing something up!

And SWAT won!

Papa Ward, Pastor to Homeless Veterans Died on Christmas Day

The man who gave hope dies on the greatest day of hope
Daily Commercial
Tom McNiff
December 30, 2015

Papa Ward, the pastor of Logos Christian Fellowship church in Leesburg, died Christmas day. Those who knew him best say it was fitting that Ward, who brought hope to so many, died on Christ's birthday -- celebrated in the Christian faith as a day of hope.

Papa Chris Ward
Gary Kadow, Pastor Chris Ward, and Deb and Bob Peters pose for a photo on the day after Thanksgiving, a day spent worming with homeless people in the Ocala National Forest.

Long before there was a Project SOS, a veterans aid organization that, in part, helps homeless veterans living in the Ocala National Forest, there was Chris Ward.

The one-time Army Airborne Ranger, who became a minister after leaving the service, had been tromping across the pine needles and through the thickets of the forest looking for campgrounds where homeless veterans retreated to wrestle in solitude with the demons they brought back from the battlefield.

He brought them food, fresh water, clothing, blankets -- anything to soften their rugged day-to-day existence. But most of all, he brought something most people couldn't. He brought understanding, the kind of understanding that only another combat veteran could offer.
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Leesburg says farewell to Marine who died in Afghanistan

Leesburg says farewell to Marine who died in Afghanistan
By Christine Show, Orlando Sentinel

September 14, 2010
LEESBURG — Dozens of American flags swayed in the wind outside a memorial service for Marine Sgt. Michael Bock Monday night.

More than 60 people gathered at Morrison United Methodist Church for a tearful farewell to Bock, who died from small-arms fire Aug. 13 while on foot patrol in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. Members of Patriot Guard Riders, a national group that provides escorts and support at military funerals, held flags outside the church doors.

During the memorial, the Rev. Karen Burris described Bock as a man who "believed in the Marines and in love for his country."
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Leesburg says farewell to Marine

Marine from Leesburg died in Afghanistan

DOD Identifies Marine Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Staff Sgt. Michael A. Bock, 26, of Leesburg, Fla., died Aug. 13 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.

http://icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx

Leesburg Florida to honor veterans on large scale

Leesburg to honor veterans on large scale
Amy C. Rippel | Special to the Sentinel
October 22, 2008
LEESBURG - It's envisioned as a tribute to Lake County's veterans, the likes of which has never been seen in this area.

At about 7 feet tall and a colossal 2,800 square feet, the Veterans Memorial at Fountain Park is poised to be one of the largest veterans monuments in the Southeast.

They've got the land, the plans and the ambition. Now all organizers need is the money to get it built. But even that, when charitable dollars are hard to come by, isn't worrisome to the war veterans putting this together.

Don Van Beck, a Tavares resident and Korean War veteran, said he knows the local community will quickly donate the estimated $525,000 needed to build the granite structure. Organizers expect it will be completed by November 2009.


"It's really just a monument for all of the people who served," Van Beck said. "This is something that will go on forever."

Plans for the memorial have quietly been in the works for about three months. Van Beck, 80, said he and fellow members of the Lake County Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 169 in Leesburg initially decided to make a memorial for Korean War veterans. After more brainstorming, the group decided the memorial should commemorate all veterans.

Army pays for old injustice

Army pays for old injustice
Martin E. Comas | Sentinel Staff Writer
October 16, 2008
LEESBURG - The family of a World War II veteran who spent almost a year in a military prison after being wrongly convicted more than 60 years ago now may receive as much as $80,000 in back pay from the Army, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

"It's easy. It's clear. It's the right thing to do," said Nelson, D-Fla., on Wednesday, a day after President Bush signed a military appropriations bill with a provision that awards back pay plus interest to veterans whose claims arise from the correction of military records.

Samuel Snow of Leesburg was among 28 black soldiers falsely convicted of sparking a riot during World War II that led to the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war at an Army base in Seattle. Snow, a skinny teenager at the time, served almost 12 months in a military prison and was dishonorably discharged.

Snow died in July at age 83 just hours after receiving an honorable discharge and an Army apology during a ceremony in Seattle. He always maintained that he had nothing to do with the riot, which broke out at Fort Lawton in August 1944.
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Leesburg veteran receives honorable discharge hours before death

Leesburg veteran receives honorable discharge hours before death
Sara K. Clarke Sentinel Staff Writer
July 28, 2008
Samuel Snow fought for more than six decades for justice, and an honorable discharge from the Army.

He got it Saturday -- just hours before his death.

The 83-year-old Leesburg veteran died early Sunday after receiving the long-awaited commendation. Snow was one of 28 black soldiers falsely convicted of starting a World War II riot that led to the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war at an Army base in Seattle.

"It meant giving him back his pride and dignity," said his son Ray Snow, 55. "It brought closure to a very sad part of his life."

Snow traveled to Seattle last week to receive his coveted discharge, but he was admitted to the hospital late Friday with heart trouble. He missed Saturday's ceremony, where relatives of the soldiers joined elected and military officials to hear the Army apologize before hundreds of people. But before he died, Snow heard an account of the event and was thrilled, his son said.

"I cannot describe the joy that radiated on his face," Ray Snow said.

Samuel Snow entered the Army as a teenager, dreaming of a military career that would pull him from poverty. Within a year, he was swept up in the largest and longest Army court-martial of the war.

Snow and the other 27 were convicted of starting the riot. Two of the soldiers were convicted of manslaughter in the Italian's death.
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