(Utica, NY – Nov. 2015) Veterans, family members and officials will honor the sacrifices of war veterans at six memorials and monuments in Utica on Veterans Day Wednesday Nov. 11.
Coordinated by The American Legion’s Utica Post 229, with help from Military Order of the Purple Heart, Vietnam Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, Polish Legion of American Veterans and several other veterans’ groups, ceremonies get under way at 11 a.m. at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Oneida Square. Post 229 Commander Chris Urban will serve as master of ceremonies.
The group will proceed to the Parkway to stop at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the POW-MIA Monument and the World War I/World War II/Korean War Monument. After that will be Purple Heart Memorial Park on Whitesboro Street in West Utica, and finally, All Veterans Memorial at the Post Office on Pitcher Street.
Retired Army Chaplain Col. Gary Howard will offer prayers, Color Guard squads will present the colors, and veterans and dignitaries will take turns laying a wreath.
The day will begin and end at Utica Post 229, with coffee and doughnuts at 9:30 a.m. and lunch for veterans from noon to 3.