South Lake Co. troops ‘who gave all’ honored with Memorial Day banners
Fifty years have passed since Ila Mae Thomas’ 20-year-old brotherin-law Sgt. Jess Thomas was killed in Vietnam as he rushed enemy forces while outnumbered during a search-and-destroy mission.
But the 82-year-old south Lake County resident cries like it just happened, remembering the quiet young man who “never caused his mother any trouble.” Jess Thomas had just graduated high school when he was drafted in 1965 to serve in Vietnam. Three years later, his mother and father — longtime Mascotte mayor Fred Thomas — received a letter from him that he was coming home in seven weeks.
“It was just a few days later that they came to tell us he was gone,” said Ila Mae, her voice breaking.
As Memorial Day nears, she is gratified that Jess Thomas and six other south Lake County veterans killed in action are being honored on 30- by 84-inch banners that have been hung along eastbound State Road 50 in Groveland, 30 miles west of Orlando.
The importance of the holiday often gets forgotten as people get together to drink beer and grill hamburgers. To keep the proper perspective, the Groveland Historical Society spent $1,200 to create the banners and the city put them up in time for the holiday.
“I’m hoping the younger generation will see these banners and it will remind them of the true meaning of Memorial Day that often gets lost in the barbecues and functions that are for our benefit,” historical society member Mary Helen Myers said.
The banners feature a patriotic stars-and-stripes design, a photo of the serviceman, his branch and date of death. An eighth banner includes all of the men’s images and the words: “Local Heroes Who Gave all for Our Country.”
The group includes another Vietnam veteran besides Thomas: Army Specialist E-5 Ronald Gaffney, killed by gunfire in 1965 while rescuing two wounded soldiers in South Vietnam. Groveland’s first dog park and a highway are named in his honor.
Four of the servicemen were killed during War World II — one of them a pilot lost at sea.
Army Sgt. Lester Roberts Jr., a 20-year-old machine gunner, was part of the third wave that charged the beaches of Normandy on DDay and died in Belgium as he fought during the Battle of the Bulge.
First Lt. Edwin Sibley flew infantry fighters who parachuted behind enemy lines on D-Day and died six months later when his C-47 Skytrain plane crashed while crossing the English Channel.
Radio operator Earlie Story died when a fighter plane he was in went down during a Navy training exercise off the New England coast. Relatives of the 20-year-old said Story’s mother “grieved herself to death.”
Pfc. Ray Tedder, 21, dodged heavy gunfire and land mines on Omaha Beach and was killed later near Berlin after his Army unit destroyed several enemy divisions on their way to Germany. Mascotte’s civic center is named after Tedder and Thomas.
The most recent casualty is Army Sgt. Eric Ramirez, who was killed in 2004 when his unit was ambushed while on patrol near Baghdad.
For Maria Ramirez of Mascotte, the pain over losing her 31-year-old son forms a knot in her stomach, often making it difficult to talk about him without sobbing. “It’s beautiful,” she said of his banner, before asking her husband, Felix, to continue speaking about their son.
“When we saw Eric’s banner for the first time, it was very bittersweet,” Felix Ramirez said. “He had a servant heart.”
The banners will hang throughout the holiday weekend and then will be stored by the historical society until they’re hung again next year. Additional banners could be printed if more families of local service members killed in action come forward.
“No matter how much we’ve done, it just doesn’t compare. When you give your life, that’s the ultimate sacrifice,” Myers said. “We’re very proud of our guys.”