By LINDA CHION KENNEY
A World War II veteran celebrating his centenarian year has been recognized by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners with a proclamation delivered this month, along with a special surprise gift from a long-serving U.S. Army chaplain.
As Primary Election returns filtered in Tuesday night, Aug. 23, the crowd at Three Bulls in Valrico took pause to celebrate a proclamation for Robert Kittner of Bloomingdale, an active participant in recent years in community affairs, including as a frequent attendee to Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheons, on behalf of his volunteer service.
Due to a brief illness, Kittner was unable to attend the June 15 board meeting, at which time commissioners had planned to present the proclamation to Kittner in person, on the occasion of his 100th birthday June 1.
The proclamation speaks to Kittner’s civilian accomplishments and “service with distinction” as a flight instructor, pilot and aide-de-camp with the U.S. Army Air Force, as both branches were combined during World War II. According to government records, roughly 300,000 World War II veterans were alive in 2020, with Florida being home to more than 30,000 veterans. The global war lasted from 1939 to 1945.
Commissioner Stacy White, whose District 4 includes Riverview and south Hillsborough County, arranged to have the proclamation read at Three Bulls, where Mike Owen, a Republican running for White’s seat, was scheduled to watch election returns. Owen won the seat, upsetting Republican challenger Noelle Licor. Unopposed in the General Election, Owen is set to replace White, who could not run for reelection because of term limits.
Kittner, with his daughter, Shirley Tucker, and her husband, Riley, was at Three Bulls, invited by Owen, a long-time family friend, who played baseball at Bloomingdale High with the Tuckers’ son, Gaylen McClelland. Kittner on several occasions lead the Pledge of Allegiance at Owen’s election fundraisers.
“My dad was truly honored by the gesture of a proclamation, and our extended family is grateful for the acknowledgment of his service,” Shirley Tucker said. “The whole evening was topped off with the selfless gesture of Chaplain Dan, who gave my dad a special Purple Heart coin he had randomly received that day. My father was surprised and very honored to receive that memento.”
The coin came from Daniel “Chaplain Dan” Middlebrooks, founder and president of Chaplaincy Care Inc., a nonprofit focused on serving veterans and first responders and their families. Middlebrooks has a doctorate in ministry, specializing in clinical pastoral education and traumatic event management, and through the nonprofit counsels county wide on personal relationships, proactive resiliency and professional readiness.
Middlebrooks said during breakfast Aug. 23 at Fred’s Market in Plant City, he had a chance meeting with U.S. Army veteran John Lloyd Hillery of Lakeland, who received the Purple Heart Medal upon getting wounded in action in Vietnam on Oct. 11, 1966. Hillery is commander of Chapter 535 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which meets in Lakeland.
Middlebrooks said Hillery gave him the coin after Middlebrooks gave Hillery a gold flag pin that had been in his family for close to 15 years.
As Middlebrooks recounted, “I said, ‘Sir, this is a gift from me, representing the purity of your service, and to remember a chaplain who will be praying for you daily and for your organization.”
Middlebrooks served as well as a physical therapist from 1987 to 1991 and as a U.S. Army chaplain from 1995 to 2013, with deployments in Sinai, Egypt; Macedonia and Kosovo; and Iraq. From 1992-1994, while in the reserves, he studied to become a commissioned chaplain.
Upon receiving Hillery’s Purple Heart coin at Fred’s Market, Middlebrooks said he knew right away that it was not his to keep.
“I kept it in my pocket all day long, wondering whom it was for,” said Middlebrooks, who added that he prayed to God to give him guidance as to its intended recipient. “Love isn’t love until you give it away. Honor isn’t honor until you give it away to those to whom honor is due.”
At Three Bulls later that night, upon first learning of Kittner’s proclamation, Middlebrooks said his prayers had been answered.
“It was a joy that night to have that Purple Heart coin in my pocket,” Middlebrooks said. “It was a no-brainer for me to give to Mr. Kittner what was given to me. I was blessed at the beginning of the day to receive the coin. I was doubly blessed later that night to present it to one who truly is worthy of it.”
Kittner said he was grateful for the attention and for an extended family celebration held in June to celebrate his milestone birthday. Civilian life highlights noted in his proclamation include his Rutgers University studies; his employment with Western Electric; his sailing accomplishments; and his “stellar career in the hotel industry, designing, building and managing a ski lodge in Vermont, and impressively achieving executive status with Sheraton Hotels, for which he worked 24 years in countries across the globe.”