Four

MILITARY

This honor roll of Zellwood’s citizens in military service during World War II was located on Jones Avenue east of Leon and Violet Osborn’s home. Servicemen met the bus to leave for duty on Highway 441. An Army camp was located in a field on Lake Maggiore not far from this sign. Several blocks away, soldiers took in plays and music at Zellwood Elementary School. (WL.)

Lafayette “Fate” Humphrey was 18 when he volunteered for the Army during World War I. He was wounded in battle by poison gas. While recovering in France, he learned how to be an excellent cook. Humphrey brought home exciting stories. He told about hundreds of warhorses being put to death rather than being transported home and how their bones are in the soil of France’s great flower-growing area near Marseille. (Courtesy of Jack Humphrey.)

Cpl. James Arlington Vincent (right) was sent overseas along with thousands of other doughboys in cattle ships to win “the war to end all wars.” Vincent served in France, Luxembourg, and Belgium from July 16, 1918, to July 31, 1919. Vincent’s hair turned white and he lost his hearing during the war. He came home to Zellwood, married Gladys Margaret Cooper, and, together, they raised four children. (CVT.)

This Civil Air Patrol tower was erected in 1942 in a field where Lake Maggiore Estates is currently located. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the government established a Civil Defense Program in every community and county to protect the coastal United States. The towers were manned 24 hours a day by volunteers searching the skies for enemy aircraft. (OC.)

World War II servicemen and their mothers are documented in this c. 1945 photograph. Pictured here are, from left to right, Marion Sheddan and his mother, Louise Sheddan; George A. Vincent and Annie Vincent; J.H. Brown with Lily Ethel Brown; Bob Morton, Lou Morton (mother of Bob and Paul), and Paul Morton; and Edwin Fly, Leila Fly (mother of Edwin and Wesley), and Wesley Fly. (Courtesy of Honey Caldwell.)

Dwight Doggett was 18 when he enlisted in the Army in 1944. He served overseas with the 1748 Engineer Petroleum Group. Next, Doggett was part of the Ryukus campaign on Ie Shima and Okinawa. Finally, he was sent to Korea as part of the Army of Liberation. In 1992, as a civilian Doggett originated Zellwood’s annual Memorial Day service at Conquest Cemetery. (Courtesy of Dwight Doggett.)

Tom Staley’s Navy tour of duty aboard the USS Stern took him from European ports to Pearl Harbor. He experienced the esprit de corps when the flag was planted atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. After his discharge, Staley served as production manager at Zellwin Farms, where he interacted with German farm laborers who had been transported from a Leesburg POW camp to hoe and harvest. (Courtesy of Tom Staley.)

Zellwood-born Reasley Vincent Jr. flew B-17s and B-29s during World War II. Called back to serve in Korea, he flew KC-97s (refuelers to the B-47). Vincent originally joined the Army Air Corps, which later became the Air Force. After his service, Vincent went into the nursery business and attended On-the-Job Veterans’ Training at Ocoee. (Courtesy of Mary Wright.)

While serving in the engineer corps of Patton’s Third Army, Capt. Charles Grinnell Sr. helped build bridges for US troops moving across Europe. Grinnell received a Seaboard Air Line Railway pamphlet promoting Zellwood’s muck farms. He saved much of his Army pay with the intention of beginning his own farm (Grinnell Farms), which he did after leaving the service in 1945. (CG.)

This brochure, published by Seaboard Air Line Railway, was designed to promote farming in Zellwood, thereby increasing business for the railroad. After his discharge from the Army, Charles Grinnell rode the bus from New Jersey to Zellwood and began six decades of farming on the muck land. The pamphlet’s foldout mentioned the Zellwood Drainage District and depicted rich land promising harvests of vegetables that could be dehydrated, canned, processed, or sold fresh. The Seaboard Air Line Railway promised to transport produce to market in good condition. (CG.)

In the Air Force, Robert “Carroll” Potter trained cadets and, later, flight instructors. After being transferred to Military Air Transport Command, Potter delivered B-24, B-25, C-46, and C-47 planes. Later, he flew missions across the Himalayan Mountains. After the war, Potter was a FAA flight examiner in Central Florida. In Zellwood, he started Potter Flyers, Inc. (a crop-dusting business) and Potter Farms. Potter logged over 35,000 hours in his flight book. (Courtesy of Jan Potter.)

Wilber Sewell joined the US Navy in September 1951 and traveled to San Diego for basic training. He received orders to board the DD-644 destroyer USS Stembel. The ship deployed to Korean waters and joined Task Force 77, consisting of two aircraft carriers, two cruisers, one battle ship, and eighteen destroyers. Sewell deployed four times to Korea during his tenure in the Navy. Upon returning to Zellwood, he worked in Ralph Lister’s machine shop. (Courtesy of Wilber Sewell.)

Sgt. Edward Brown entered the US Army on August 19, 1940, at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was in the Third Army 802 Field Artillery. On July 4, 1944, Brown left Camp Shanks, New York, and he arrived in Scotland on July 16, 1944. Sergeant Brown served in Patton’s 3rd Army in the Battle of the Bulge in Germany. He was also in combat in Belgium, Rhineland, and France. Discharged in 1945, he moved to Zellwood and worked for Fly’s Humus Company and A. Duda and Sons. (Courtesy of Deloris Brown Lynch.)

Ronald Edward Brown (son of Sgt. Edward Brown) enlisted in the Marine Corps on August 28, 1963. Sergeant Brown served in the Vietnam War in ChuLai, Phubai, Donhai, and the DMZ from May 1965 until June 1966. Brown was in the Fire Direction Center of the 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines H Battery. He served as president of the Vietnam Veterans in Ocala and currently owns South Eastern Counseling Center in Winter Park. (Courtesy of Ron Brown.)

William Davis “W.D.” Lovelady was an aircraft mechanic in the Army Air Corps during World War II. After initial training at Camp Blanding, near Starke, Florida, and aviation maintenance school, he served in England with the US 8th Air Force, repairing and maintaining P-51 Mustang fighter planes. (WL.)

William R. Lovelady Jr. (left), grandson of William Davis “W.D.” Lovelady, poses with Iraqi army colonel Abbas Fadhil Abdul-Sahib at the Besmaya Range Complex in Iraq. Lovelady was a Navy reservist when he was mobilized to work in the public affairs office of the Multi-National Security Transition Command–Iraq in Baghdad. Abbas, who was the first officer to join the new Iraqi Army, presented the Iraqi flag to Lovelady as a gift during his visit to the range. (WL.)

In 1964, at 21 years of age, Zellwood-born Eugene Mason joined the Army; he served for 22 years. His Army tours of duty included Korea; Alaska; Germany; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Riley, Kansas; and Japan. Mason served as a cook, career counselor, and food service sergeant. (Courtesy of Eugene Mason.)

Lynn Rice married Marion Ellis, his high school sweetheart. The couple had a three-month-old son, Randy, when Lynn was drafted into the Army in July 1954. During the Korean War, Rice headed a motor pool unit that worked to protect New York City. After leaving the service, Rice returned to Zellwood and became a nurseryman. The Rice children and grandchildren continued to work in the nursery industry. (Courtesy of Marion Rice.)

Jimmy Willis served in the Army between 1969 and 1971. He underwent basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Jimmy married Janice Fountain (both of them are pictured here) 17 days before he went to Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division. Willis returned to Zellwood after being honorably discharged, and he wrote poems and a song dedicated to the memory of a fellow soldier; he performed the song at the Zellwood Historical Society’s annual open houses in 2013 and 2014. (Courtesy of Jimmy Willis.)

Gene Sikes left Zellwood early in 1965 after joining the Army. He married in mid-1965, and his wife, Margaret, went with him to Fort Gordon, Georgia, and Sandia Base, New Mexico. After serving for a year in Vietnam, he became a military police self-defense instructor at Fort Gordon, where his daughter Deanie was born. Gene Sikes now lives in Zellwood and is the service/special projects district manager for Harper Limbach. (Courtesy of Gene Sikes.)