The largest Veterans Day ceremony on the North Olympic Peninsula will be at the Port Angeles Coast Guard station on Ediz Hook at 1 p.m. today.
Coast Guard Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles, in conjunction with the Clallam County Veterans Association, will host its annual Veterans Day ceremony and celebration of the centennial of Armistice Day in a hangar on the base.
The public is invited to enter the station starting at 11:30 a.m. through the front gate, 1 Ediz Hook Road.
Air Station/SFO Port Angeles has been designated as a regional Veterans Day observance site for the 23nd straight year by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Last year, some 1,000 people attended the event.
The guest speaker will be Retired Navy Rear Admiral James D. Kelly, presently a Port Ludlow resident.
Kelly served from April 1974 to July 2009 as a naval flight officer and was known as the “Gray Owl” of the Navy for being its longest serving Naval Flight Officer.
He served as dean of the College of Maritime Operational Warfare at the U.S. Naval War College from June 2011 to August 2017.
The Sequim High School Select Choir, the Port Angeles High School Band and the Olympic Peninsula Men’s Chorus will provide music for the ceremony along with bagpiper Rick McKenzie, who will play “Flowers of the Forest,” which honors those who served in World War I, followed by “Amazing Grace.”
The Port Angeles High School NJROTC color guard will present the colors.
The Clallam County Veterans Association will host a coffee and cookie social immediately after the ceremony.
Due to enhanced security requirements visitors must arrive by motor vehicle and should arrive early to allow for delays at the gate.
All visitors must present valid, government issued identification for entry, Washington state driver’s licenses will be accepted for the ceremony. Weapons will not be permitted on the base.
The doors of the hangar will remain open so attendees should dress for the weather.
For more information, call the station’s public affairs office at 360-417-5840.
Several commemoriations and other events are scheduled on the Peninsula today.
They are:
GARDINER
Honor ceremony
GARDINER — The public is invited to an honor ceremony for Petty Officer Marvin G. Shields at 11 a.m. today.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest holds the annual event at the Gardiner Cemetery, 137 Gardiner Cemetery Road.
General parking for this event is available at the Gardiner Community Center, 980 Old Gardiner Road, with ADA parking at the cemetery.
This year’s guest speaker is retired Rear Adm. Lou Cariello.
The Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps at Oak Harbor High School will provide the colors detachment. Sailors from Naval Base Kitsap will provide the gun salute.
Shields posthumously received the Medal of Honor for saving many lives during a battle in Don Zoai, South Vietnam, in 1965. He was 25 years old when he volunteered to take out a Viet Cong machine gun nest.
He fought while wounded, rescued another wounded soldier and kept fighting for hours. Shields later died of a gunshot wound.
He was the first member of the Navy to earn the Medal of Honor in Vietnam.
PORT TOWNSEND
Veterans Day program
PORT TOWNSEND — The Marvin G. Shields Memorial Post 26 American Legion will host its annual Veterans Day program today.
A 10:30 a.m. pre-ceremony concert by the Port Townsend Summer Band will begin the day’s events at the post, 209 Monroe Road.
The colors will be presented by Cub and Webelos scouts from Troop 4479 of Port Townsend.
The public is invited to the event.
SEQUIM
Veterans dinner
SEQUIM — The American Legion Jack Grennan Post 62 will host a dinner at 3:30 p.m. today.
Veterans and their families are invited to the dinner at the Legion hall, 107 E. Prairie St.
The menu will feature barbecued chicken.
For more information or to RSVP, call Cmdr. Carl Bradshaw at 360-775-1477.
FORKS
Commemoration
FORKS — The Fletcher-Wittenborn VFW Post 9106 will host a Veterans Day ceremony at the Forks Transit Center, 551 S. Forks Ave., at 11 a.m. today.
The public is invited to the ceremony.
“This is a day of celebration as it was 100 years ago when America and the world celebrated the end of World War I,” the post said in a news release.
Following the ceremony, attendees are invited back to the post at 110 Spartan Ave. for a free luncheon.
American Legion
FORKS — The American Legion Post No. 106 will host a pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. today.
The breakfast will be at the post at the corner of Division Street and Maple Avenue.
The cost is a $6 donation; veterans, their families, friends and community are welcome.
Elks dinner
FORKS — The Forks Elks will host a Veterans Day Dinner at 5:30 p.m. today.
The dinner will be at the lodge at 941 Merchant Road.
It is free for all veterans and spouses of deceased veterans. All others will be admitted by donation.
Funds will go to support veteran programs in the community.
For more information, call 360-640-0296.
Here are activities and ceremonies set for Monday and Tuesday on the Peninsula:
GARDINER
Memorial service
GARDINER — The National Sojourners Olympic Chapter 539 will sponsor a memorial service for U.S. Navy Petty Officer Marvin G. Shields at 1 p.m. Monday.
Members of the public are invited to attend the ceremony at the Gardiner Cemetery, 137 Gardiner Cemetery Road.
Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias, state Reps. Steve Tharinger and Mike Chapman are expected to speak during the service, said Marc F. Povondra, organizer.
Also expected to attend are Jean Shields-Bennett, Petty Officer Shields’ widow, and Betsy Schultz of the Captain Joseph House.
For more information, call Povondra at 360-582-6120 or 916-801-2555.
PORT ANGELES
Quilting for heroes
PORT ANGELES — Quilters for Heroes will host a Veterans Day quilting project from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday.
The free event will be at Sleepy Valley Quilt Company, 1017 E. Front St.
Attendees can join in sewing strip quilt blocks that will be assembled into quilts for wounded military veterans.
Precut fabric will be provided; bringing a sewing machine is recommended.
For more information, call Trish Kicklighter at 540-660-1625 or email to trishkicklighter24@gmail.com.
Appreciation potluck
PORT ANGELES — Fairview Grange will host a veterans appreciation potluck at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The meal at 161 Lake Farm Road will be preceded by a short ceremony to honor veterans, active duty military personnel and those who have died.
The public is invited to attend, non-veterans are asked to bring a potluck item.
For more information, call 360-461-9008.
