Here’s a highlights video of the aerial coverage of the Inaugural Dragon Boat Festival & Races at The Gulf restaurant on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach, Florida on Sept 10, 2023. This was a charity event benefiting Bring Hope Now, a peer to peer suicide prevention program for schools and military.
To learn more, donate and/or volunteer, go to www.BringHopeNow.com
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2020 Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade
Enjoy this replay of the 2020 Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade – “Christmas Nights & Winter Nights”, which took place on December 7, 2020 on Eglin Pkwy at 6:30pm CDT.
The weather was brisk but dry at folks came bundled up to watch business, local organizations and schools marching bands pass by and spread joy. Sponsored by the City of Fort Walton Beach and hosted by Ted Corcoran, the CEO of the FWB Chamber of Commerce and Heather Ruiz, the 2021 Chair of the board for the chamber who also represents Destin Commons shopping center. The Judges were Vince & Kimberly Mayfield (BitWizards), Seth Luttrell (chamber Dir Operations) and John Hofstad (Okaloosa County Administrator).
The winners of this year’s parade are as follows:
– Best Service – 501st Legion Parjai Squad
– Best Marching – Choctawhatchee High School Style Marchers
– Best Youth – Niceville High School Robotics
– Best Religious – Communidad Familiar Tabernaculo De Adoracion
– Best Commercial – RBM Contracting Produced byEmerald Coast TV Technical Producer & Editor – RJ Murdock
Additional Cameraman – Max Murdock -
Inaugural ODA 595 Horse Soldiers Reunion 2022
On October 22, 2022, the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce hosted the Inaugural ODA 595 Horse Soldiers Reunion at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds. Ted Corcoran, CEO of the FWB Chamber, was Master of Ceremony.
Below is a replay video of the event. If you have a Smart TV, search for and install the VidFlow app to watch this video on your big screen TV. This video player also also you to select chapter points to specific speakers and presentations.
Ten of the original 12 members of ODA 595 were in attendance for this inaugural reunion event.
Captain Mark Nutsch – Detachment Commander
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bob Pennington – Assistant Detachment Commander
Master Sergeant Paul Evans – Team and Operations Sergeant
Sergeant First Class Andy Marchal – Intelligence Sergeant
Sergeant First Class Steve Kofron. – Weapons Sergeant
Staff Sergeant Mike Elmore – Weapons Sergeant
Staff Sergeant Chad Jacklet– Engineer Sergeant
Sergeant First Class Steve Bleigh—Medical Sergeant
Sergeant First Class Vince Makela – Communications Sergeant
Staff Sergeant Will Summers– Communications Sergeant
Not in Attendance:
- Staff Sergeant USAF Steve E. Tomat – Tactical Air Control Party (TACP)
- Staff Sergeant USAF Joseph Matt Lienhard– Air Force Special Operations Combat Controller from Special Tactics Squadron
Several prominent guest speakers included Florida House District #4 representative Patt Maney, former CIA Directorate of Operations officer Alex Hernandez, former USAF Chief of Staff for a Theater Special, retired Col Glenn Thomas, and the son of Doolittle Raiders Col Dick Cole, Richard Cole.
A special commemorative canteen cup was created by the Bohlin Company and presented to each member of ODA 595 in honor and recognition of their heroic actions in America’s first response against the Taliban after the 911 attack.
This event was made possible through the support of several local community sponsors.
If you are interested in learning more about ODA 595 as well as other stories about America’s 1st response to the 911 attacks, check out these sources:
First Casualty by Toby Harnden
Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton
Swords of Lightning – Green Beret Horse Soldiers and America’s Response to 911
12 Strong – The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers
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Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade 2021
This is an edited HD replay of December 6, 2021, Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade, which was filmed on Eglin Pkwy in front of FNBT Bank.
Rain showers a few hours before the start of the parade had caused all of the local school bands to cancel their performances, but the rain cleared up and help off during the parade. This parade video was originally live-streamed on the City of Fort Walton Beach, FL’s Facebook page.
Produced by RJ Murdock with Emerald Coast TV