Okaloosa County invites residents to Nov. 11 Veterans Day tribute featuring new monument and four women veteran statues
Destin, Florida – Okaloosa County’s next tribute to veterans will put the nation’s founding promises beside the stories of women who served it. A new Charters of Freedom monument will join the statues along Choctawhatchee Bay this Veterans Day.
The unveiling will give the county its second such display in just over a week, while drawing attention to four women veteran statues recently installed in their permanent locations at Veterans Park.
The observance begins at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 11, 2026, at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center on Okaloosa Island. A veteran appreciation event will precede the monument unveiling at the nearby Women Veterans Monuments at Veterans Park. Guests are encouraged to explore the four newly placed statues through a self-guided tour.
Retired Air Force Col. Patrick Dierig, former commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, will deliver the keynote address.
The Charters of Freedom display contains stainless-steel replicas of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and Civil Rights Amendments. Foundation Forward Inc., a North Carolina nonprofit, donated the documents. The organization has provided similar displays to communities across 17 states.
Okaloosa County’s first Charters of Freedom monument was unveiled Nov. 3 beside the Crestview Courthouse. The Veterans Day ceremony will extend that tribute to the county’s coastal military memorial.
“This is a special year with the Nation’s Semiquincentennial to honor Veterans Day because we have the opportunity to recognize our veterans with a new monument that displays our nation’s founding values and we will now be able to view the newly placed women veteran statues at the park,” said Okaloosa County Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel.
Sculptor Jon Hair created the park’s 12 statues honoring women’s service throughout American history. The four newest additions were unveiled last year before being placed in their permanent settings.
They honor Florence Ebersole Finch, Linda Bray, Marine Sgt. Nicole L. Gee and an Iroquois warrior representing Native women who served during the War of 1812.
Finch supplied the Philippine resistance and helped prisoners of war before enduring imprisonment and torture. Bray commanded a military police company during Operation Just Cause in Panama, where her unit encountered a three-hour firefight. Gee helped Afghan women and children during the Kabul evacuation and was killed in a suicide bombing.
The Iroquois figure represents women whose pension records listed them as cooks, although many also fought alongside their husbands. Together, the statues give visitors individual stories to consider as the county dedicates its newest monument. Details about the memorial are available on the county’s Veterans Park webpage.
