Veterans Day tributes are scheduled across Jefferson and Clallam counties to honor the men and women who have served in the armed forces.
The holiday will be observed Tuesday, when many businesses and offices will be closed, but some local ceremonies were conducted Sunday and others will be Wednesday.
There are about 14,000 veterans on the North Olympic Peninsula, which has a total population of 93,000.
Here are activities planned for Tuesday; all take place rain or shine:
* Coast Guard Group Port Angeles officials will again host the largest event on Tuesday — for the eighth straight year, the Coast Guard base was designated by the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Regional Veterans Day Observance Site.
The event will begin at 10 a.m. at the station located on Ediz Hook.
The front gate at the end of Ediz Hook will be open at 9:30 a.m.
Because parking is very limited, sharing rides is strongly recommended.
Presented by the Clallam County Veterans Association, this year’s ceremony will feature retired Navy Rear Adm. Robert B. McClinton of Sequim.
The U.S. Air Force Honor Guard will render a 21-gun salute in honor of fallen veterans
The U.S. Navy Band Northwest and U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Team will perform.
The Strait Men’s Chorus and Grand Olympics Chorus of Sweet Adeline’s International will sing patriotic hymns.
Also on Tuesday:
* Retired and active members of Navy Seabee construction battalions will honor Medal of Honor winner Marvin D. Shields at his grave site.
The ceremony is planned for 11 a.m. at Gardiner Cemetery, on Cemetery Road, just off U.S. Highway 101 in Gardiner.
* In addition, a public ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. in Port Townsend at the Marvin G. Shields Memorial American Legion Hall, Water and Monroe streets.
Shields, who grew up in Discovery Bay, is the first and only Seabee to receive the Medal of Honor.
He played three years of football for Port Townsend High School and later worked in the Discovery Bay sawmill where he “wrestled logs.”
Shields entered the Navy in 1962.
The Seabee construction unit he was volunteering with was attacked in 1965 north of Saigon by the Viet Cong.
Over the course of seven hours, he supplied ammunition to his unit while under attack from flame throwers, hand grenades and small arms fire, and helped carry two severely wounded soldiers out of danger.
Then, when the commander asked for volunteers to help knock out a machine-gun emplacement, he volunteered for the mission.
Armed with a rocket launcher, they destroyed the emplacement. But while returning to safety, he was fatally wounded.
The Navy named a destroyer escort after him, and President Lyndon Johnson called him “a new kind of fighting man” when he posthumously issued Shields the Medal of Honor,
He is buried on land donated by a private citizen to honor Shields’ wish to be buried near the place he grew up.
His grave marker says: “He died as he lived, for his friends.”
* Also in Port Townsend on Tuesday, veterans and current members of the military are invited by Girl Scout Troops 59 and 3012 to a thank-you celebration.
The event will include dessert and discussion and will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the Girl Scout House, 838 Tyler St.
Two Veterans Day activities are scheduled for Wednesday:
* The Brinnon community will have a chance to meet a World War II Medal of Honor recipient during the Brinnon School Veterans Day assembly.
Sgt. John D. Hawk of Bremerton will talk about his experiences during the war.
He was awarded four Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and other ribbons.
The public is invited to the event which begins at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday at Brinnon School, 46 Schoolhouse Road.
* Chimacum High School will hold its annual Veterans Day ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The event will include a performance by the Navy Band Northwest.
