QUEENS BOROUGH PRESIDENT KATZ TO HOST VETERANS DAY OBSERVANCE CEREMONY NOVEMBER 8

USANEWSONLINE.COM DESK, QUEENS, NY – Borough President Melinda Katz will host her annual Veterans Day Observance Ceremony on Thursday, November 8^th at 11:00 AM inside the Helen Marshall Cultural Center in Queens Borough Hall. More veterans call Queens home than any other borough, and the ceremony will salute the 55,000+ current Queens residents who are veterans of our nation’s Armed Forces.

Three distinguished veterans of Queens will receive Citations of Honor during the event:

• Private First Class Luke Gasparre – United States Army, World War II
• Staff Sergeant Steven David Epps – United States Air Force, Vietnam War
• Lieutenant Sarah Bradwisch – United States Navy, Operation Desert Storm/Operation Desert Shield

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, local historian Helen Day – Vice President of the Richmond Hill Historical Society and the Vice President of Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery – will deliver remarks on the tremendous contributions Queens residents made during World War I. The armistice that brought an end to World War I took effect on November 11^th, 1918. The United States annually observed November 11^th as Armistice Day from 1919 until 1954, when the name of the observance was changed to Veterans Day in remembrance of the sacrifices of all U.S. veterans.

The free, indoor ceremony on November 8^th will be followed by an indoor reception in Borough Hall. Anyone wishing to attend should RSVP at www.queensbp.org/rsvp or call 718.286.2661.

In tribute to our nation’s veterans, the flags of the five U.S. military branches (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard) will be on display in front of Queens Borough Hall and in the Borough Hall lobby for one week beginning Monday, November 5^th.

The November 8^th event will also include a special announcement from Borough President Katz regarding the latest developments around Queens’ first borough-wide Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which is to be erected in Elmhurst Park. Press Release.