Veterans Day ceremony at Vietnam Vets' Memorial

HOLMDEL — The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation will host a Veterans Day Ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m.

The N.J. Vietnam Veterans' Memorial is located on the grounds of the PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel.

Adm. Paul Gaffney II, president of Monmouth University, will be the speaker. Gaffney served two tours of duty in Vietnam and received a Bronze Star Medal. His distinguished naval career spanned 35 years, including duty at sea, overseas, and ashore in executive and command positions.

The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial will induct three veterans, including a former local resident, into the "In Memory" program, which honors those who served in Vietnam and returned home only to die as a result of their tour, but whose names are not on the memorial. The three inductees are: Ronald E. Kowalski, U.S. Marine Corps, from Port Monmouth, who died on Jan. 31; Frank Hughes, U.S. Army, from Clayton, who died on Dec. 25, 2008; and Harvey J. Shalansky, U.S. Army, from Wood Ridge, who died on July 17, 2004.

As part of the ceremony, family members will say a few words about their loved one and light a candle in their memory.

The Vietnam Era Educational Center is located adjacent to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial off the Garden State Parkway at Exit 116. The Educational Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Regular admission is free for veterans and active-duty military personnel. Regular adult admission is $4; student and senior citizen admission is $2, and children under 10 are admitted free.