Page 80 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

COLUMN MAY 27,2007

REST IN PEACE. BENJAMIN DUKE

(Reprint from May 25,2003)

“Forestry Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Ocean Pond Picnic Area
Dedicated to the memory of
Benjamin Franklin Duke
Forester on the Osceola and
Choctawhatchee National Forests in Florida
In 1939 and 1940
Who gave his life in the
Service of his country on
June 18,1943, World War II”
(Plaque at Ocean Pond)

Who, of all American war dead, will you think of Monday on Memorial
Day? I will think of Benjamin Franklin Duke and the day my unexpected
prayer became part of his memorial service.

You have probably never heard of Benjamin Duke. I never knew him. He
was a young forester who worked in the Osceola National Forest in 1940.

When World War II started, he left the Forest Service to join the army and
he was killed in action June 18,1943, while serving our country.

In 1947, the U.S. Forest Service decided to dedicate the brand new Ocean
Pond Recreation Area in Benjamin Duke’s memory. The dedication
ceremony was set for March 1947.

Five Lake City Boy Scout troops were invited to attend the dedication
ceremony and all accepted. I was one of five scouts, one from each troop,
selected to participate in the formal program. My part was to lead the pledge
to the flag.

The ceremony was held on the north side of Ocean Pond, and it was there
we all gathered outdoors in a large circle on that cool, bright March day.

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