The Volusia County Council will honor the six local veterans who have been named to the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6. County Council members will present individual proclamations, show a video created by Community Information staff, and unveil a Veterans Wall of Fame in the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, 123 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand.
Among them will be Rod Phillips, a New Smyrna Beach resident and combat wounded veteran who walked point in Vietnam. He is president of the Vietnam Veterans Daytona Beach Chapter and serves as an inspector with the Florida Department of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Read his biography here and the County Council proclamation for Rod Phillips Day here.
Other local honorees are:
- John Brinkley, Ormond Beach, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II and in the Air Force during the Korean War. He founded the local Veterans Museum and Education Center in Daytona Beach and recently passed away at age 95.
- Dr. Frank Farmer, Ormond Beach, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and the U.S. Air Force at Elgin Air Force Base, achieving the rank of colonel. He is a prominent local internist who served as Florida's surgeon general and secretary of health from 2011 to 2012.
- Frank Hahnel, a U.S. Marine and Tet Offensive survivor who retired to DeBary after a long career as an electrical engineer.
- Jose Rosa, Daytona Beach Shores, who served as a master sergeant in Vietnam and Enduring Freedom and is now commander of VFW Post 3282 in Port Orange and director of the Vietnam Veterans Daytona Beach Chapter.
- David Rose, formerly of Daytona Beach, a Vietnam War Army combat medic who became a surgical technician after the war and now lives in Tennessee.
The State of Florida established the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame in 2013 to recognize and honor those military veterans who, through their works and lives during or after military service, have made a significant contribution to the State of Florida. To date, 131 Floridians have been inducted.
