“Rotary Lights Up the USO,” was as close to perfect as an event of this type can get. The standing room only crowd Saturday night at the military-themed Eisenhower Recreation Center enjoyed good food and awesome entertainment. The speeches were poignant but brief and the evening resulted in a $25,000 donation to help fund the USO’s proposed visitor center at Orlando International Airport. The evening’s festivities were led by Rotarian Harry Lumpkin, a Vietnam veteran who retired from the U.S. Army after 26 years of service. Lumpkin has fond memories of his experiences with the USO and he recalls how USO entertainers risked their lives in dangerous territory to entertain the troops in Vietnam. The USO provided returning veterans like Lumpkin a refuge from anti-war protestors, and later welcomed his son home from Operation Desert Storm in Iraq.
Lumpkin was quick to credit Rotary District Governor Jo Weber as a brilliant idea-person and the visionary behind the fundraiser. He was also very impressed with how every single military club in The Villages rallied for the cause. Project SOS — Support Our Soldiers, and the Veterans Memorial Park of The Villages each contributed $5,000. In addition, a long list of Villages military clubs, Central Florida Rotary Clubs and private individuals each donated $1,000.
“We are living in chaotic, tumultuous times,” Lumpkin said, “and we need to do everything we can to support our troops — to make them feel welcomed and cared for as they pass through Central Florida. Past Rotary International Governor, Barry Rassin, from East Nassau, Bahamas, who attended with his wife, Esther, thanked all active duty military and veterans present for all they are doing (and have done) to make this world a better place.
A small round table was set for one, with an empty chair, symbolizing the frailty of one prisoner of war alone against his oppressors. “We honor the memory of our service members who are prisoners of war, missing in action or killed in action,” Lumpkin said. “They cannot celebrate with us tonight — they cannot live out their American hopes and dreams. We honor these heroes and their sacrifices for our freedoms.”
Lumpkin was ecstatic his mother, Mary Hazel Lumpkin, from Baltimore, who is almost 89, could join he and his wife, Connie, for the festivities.
When a Marilyn Monroe impersonator began to prance around the stage, Lumpkin said he would impersonate Bob Hope (who used to entertain the troops under the auspices of the USO) and promptly pulled a golf club out of his clothing. Peter Alden, as ‘Elvis,’ performed medleys of Presley favorites from several decades; DJ ‘Bubba’ Swartz supplied lively music and Janice Bruce Swartz belted out jazz and ‘scat’ songs in her masterful manner. An outstanding Do-Wop group, the Dorels, had the crowd on the dance floor over and over. Five Villages residents make up the Dorels — Toni Booker, Earl Cash, Clifford Cook, Bill Rascoe and Henry Tresvant. A talented Rotarian, Dawn Thomas, sang our National Anthem, with her high notes reaching the upper octaves.
The United Service Organizations, Inc. (USO) was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and chartered by Congress in 1941 to lift the spirits of America’s troops and their families. The original Central Florida USO opened at the Orlando airport in 1952, but closed in 1998 with the shutdown of Naval Training Center Orlando. The new USO Central Florida, Inc. will carry on that mission.
Almost 900,000 active military men and women in transit, troops deploying on military charters plus veterans and their families, pass through Orlando International Airport every year — and they will benefit from the new 3,000 square foot flagship USO Welcome Center the USO of Central Florida will be opening at OIA.
