FROM THE PUBLISHER’S LAPTOP

SPRING 2022/VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3

4 FROM THE PUBLISHER’S LAPTOP 5 PUBLISHER’S CUT 6 HONORING THE PROMISE 8 ITCHING TO GET INTO THE FIGHT: Ben Willigham 12 LIBERTY LIFE FEATURE: Choosing to Do What’s Hard 16 THE LIBERTY COAST: The USS Orleck Arriving 17 IN MEMORIAM: Remembering Steve Spickelmier 20 VETERAN SERVICE SPOTLIGHT: Meet Keith Brandon 24 NEWS & GOUGE

Publisher

Joe Snowberger, U. S. Navy Mustang (Ret) (904) 476-7861 Publisher@LibertyLifeMedia.Com

LIBERTY LIFE STAFF:

Social Media Manager

Serena Legg, Military Spouse

Art Director

Susan Jones US Army Veteran Spouse

Contributor

Christina Swanson US Army & Navy Civilian Employee

Automotive Advertising

Staci Edwards Manager@AutoSourceWeekly.com

Advertising Sales

Sam Taylor, Pro-Military (904) 860-2465, SamTaylor1342@Gmail.Com

Liberty Life Media welcomes editorial, photographic and calendar contributions. Submit stories, events, people, milestones and military/ Veteran discount offers at www.LibertyLifeMedia.Com Please share and recycle issues. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. 31 5th Street, Atlantic Beach, Fl 32233-5307 Copyright © Signals Publishing, Inc 2020

President•Sam Taylor•SamTaylor1342@Gmail.Com

Want to be a Liberty Life pick-up location? Email SamTaylor1342@Gmail.Com

A Cool Ride to the Middleburg, Florida VA Clinic

A huge THANK YOU to Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 38 for their generous donation of a 2202 Ford Transit Connect van to the Middleburg, Florida VA Clinic. The van will serve Veteran patients, providing transportation to and from VA appointments, in the Middleburg/ Clay County area. Veterans should contact the Clay County Veterans Service Offi ce at 904.284.6326 or at Keith.Brandon@ClayCountyGov.Com.

The Middleburg VA Clinic, located at 400 College Drive, Suite 200, Middleburg, FL, provides primary care services, specialty care services that include women’s health, laboratory and vaccinations, mental health care (individual, group, couples), nutrition and weight management, pain psychology, social work, substance abuse and tobacco cessation, and telehealth services for a wide-variety of medical issues. Veterans in need of other specialty services are referred to the appropriate VA Medical Center. Thank you for picking up Liberty Life, I hope you enjoy this issue. During an editorial meeting, one of our contributors, Christina Swanson, commented that a common theme had emerged from the stories in this issue: “choosing to do what’s hard.”

Take naval aviator Ben Willingham, for example. He not only taught himself how to fl y the F-4U Corsair, he then assertively chased down the Korean War to fl y combat missions from an aircraft carrier - and then did it again.

Remembering Army Veteran Keith Brandon has chosen to do

Steve Speckelmier the hard work of navigating the ever-evolving Veterans Benefi ts Administration and be the critical link between Clay County Veterans and the government benefi ts they have earned through honorable military service. Then there is Army Chaplain Amy Justice. This Sergeant Audie Murphy Awardee is the poster child for choosing to do what’s hard.

Choosing to do what’s hard is no more clearly evident than in the culmination of a decade-plus long project to establish a naval warship museum on The Liberty Coast. Thanks to the diligent, steadfast and very patient efforts of the Jacksonville Naval Ship Association, this region’s rich naval and military heritage will fi nally be represented by a naval warship museum and Cold War memorial.

Borrowing a line from a free agent in the sports world, the ex-USS Orleck (DD886) is taking her services as a historic naval warship museum from Louisiana to the former shipyards property in Downtown Jacksonville.

Having fl own the fl ags of both the United States and Turkish navies, the museum ship ORLECK will soon be hoisting the colors as the centerpiece of the Jacksonville Naval Museum. We invite you to dive into the special 16-page introduction to the “Grey Ghost of the Vietnam Coast.”

STEVE SPICKELMIER Something that is proving to be very hard to do for many of us across The A Selfl ess Hero On A Grand Scale Liberty Coast, and that was absolutely not of our choosing, is mourning the loss of Steve Spickelmier. Steve was an omnipresent and benevolent force whose whole being was choosing what’s hard to do, especially if it was for the betterment of Veterans and Gold Star Families. Steve was a brother, father fi gure, and mentor, whose voice and warm smile will be sorely missed. Gratefully, his hard work of helping Veterans will live-on for years to come. As the publisher of Liberty Life, my hope is to provide the largest community of military, Veterans, and their families in Florida with relevant, relatable and useful information. If you are pro-military, not connected to military service, or you simply wonder what all the uniforms and jargon means, we hope to connect with you.

We hope that, in picking up this copy of Liberty Life, you’ll read something you’ll want to share with others or fi nd your way to LibertyLifeMedia.Com where you’ll experience even more features, news, and things to do. Several readers have told me to encourage you to sign-up for our well-received weekly newsletter, try our podcasts or follow us on Facebook. I’m retired military, I obey orders, so consider yourself encouraged.

On Base. In Town. Pro-Military