Veterans will be celebrated with ceremonies across the North Olympic Peninsula today.
Here is a list of events:
Regional ceremony
PORT ANGELES — Coast Guard Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles command will host its annual Veterans Day ceremony, sponsored by the Clallam County Veterans Association and combined with the centennial celebration of Coast Guard aviation, at 10:30 a.m.
Retired Rear Adm. Richard T. Gromlich, who served as the Coast Guard’s 13th District commander from June 2013 to June 2016, will speak.
During his 33-year Coast Guard career, Gromlich served as a helicopter pilot with previous operational and command tours in Elizabeth City, N.C.; Cape Cod, Mass.; Savannah, Ga; North Bend, Ore.; San Diego, Calif.; and Charleston, S.C. He lives in Seattle.
Aircraft will be on view in light of the Coast Guard’s aviation centennial.
Air Station/SFO Port Angeles has been designated as a regional Veterans Day observance site for the 20th straight year by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The public is welcome to attend and can enter the facility from the front gate at 1 Ediz Hook starting at 9:15 a.m. Due to enhanced security requirements, visitors should plan to arrive early and expect delays at the gate.
All guests must arrive in a vehicle, no walk-ons will be permitted and visitors are required to present a valid government-issued form of identification in order to gain access to the base. Weapons will not be permitted on the base.
The ceremony will be conducted inside the air station hangar and the hangar doors will be open for the duration of the ceremony; the inside air temperature will reflect the outdoor air temperature.
All guests are invited to remain after the ceremony for complementary refreshments provided by Clallam County Veterans Organization members.
For more information, contact the public affairs office at 360-417-5840.
Seabee hero honored
GARDINER — A ceremony honoring the nation’s only Seabee Medal of Honor recipient is planned for 11 a.m. in Gardiner Cemetery.
The annual ceremony by Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest honors Marvin G. Shields of Port Townsend, a construction mechanic 3rd class petty officer in the Navy Seabees who died at the age of 25 during combat in Vietnam in 1965.
When his outpost came under attack, he carried a critically wounded man to safety, was himself wounded, then helped knock out a Viet Cong machine gun emplacement before he died of his wounds.
He was the first member of the Navy to earn the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War — and the first and only Seabee so honored.
A display honoring Shields was erected outside the Marvin G. Shields Memorial American Legion Post 26 in Port Townsend.
Shields’ family, the officers and enlisted members of NAVFAC Northwest and their families, alongside retirees and civilian employees, will gather at Shields’ gravesite in the Gardiner Cemetery, which is on Gardiner Cemetery Road just south of U.S. Highway 101.
Because of his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity” while under fire, Shields was posthumously awarded with the nation’s highest military honor, according to his Medal of Honor citation.
Port Townsend program
PORT TOWNSEND — The Marvin G. Shields Memorial Post 26 of the American Legion will host its annual Veterans Day program today.
A pre-ceremony concert by the Port Townsend Summer Band, conducted by Legion member Karl Bach, will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the post at 209 Monroe St.
The ceremony, led by Andy Okinczyc, commander, will immediately follow at 11 a.m.
During the ceremony, 25 local veterans will each be presented a quilt made by the local group of the Quilts of Valor Foundation, a national group that aims to provide a quilt for each veteran who has been touched by war.
Forks ceremony
FORKS — A salute to veterans is planned at the Forks Transit Center at 11 a.m.
The ceremony at the center at 551 S. Forks Ave. will be followed by a luncheon at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post hall at 110 S. Spartan Way.
Veterans and other members of the public are invited.
Special breakfast
PORT LUDLOW — The Resort at Port Ludlow will offer 50 percent off entrees for veterans during breakfast today.
The breakfast will be at 8 a.m. at the Fireside at The Resort at Port Ludlow, 1 Heron Road.
The bar will be open and a special drink will be available.
Call 360-437-7412 for reservations.
Parks’ free days
In honor of Veterans Day, state parks and Olympic National Park will offer free admission today.
No Discover Pass will be needed to visit state parks, which on the North Olympic Peninsula are Bogachiel near Forks, Dosewallips near Brinnon, Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island, Fort Townsend and Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Anderson Lake State Park near Chimacum and Sequim Bay near Sequim.
The Olympic National Park entrance fee of $25 per automobile, $15 per motorcycle and $10 per hiker or bicyclist will be waived at all park entrances.
The Discover Pass, a $30 annual or $10 one-day permit, is still required to access lands managed by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and state Department of Natural Resources.
Free days apply only to day-use access by vehicle, not overnight stays or rented facilities.
Toy Run
BLYN — The Biker Toy Run to benefit the Port Angeles Salvation Army will be Saturday.
Bikers will gather at 7 Cedars Casino at 10 a.m. and ride to the Salvation Army at 206 S. Peabody St., Port Angeles.
Registration is $10 and a toy, and will be held between 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.
Food will be available at the Salvation Army. Families are welcome.
The event will end at 2 p.m.
