Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park to host ceremony to honor National Vietnam War Veterans Day

Submitted by the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park 

The Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park will host a ceremony to honor National Vietnam War Veterans Day, an annual observance that was designated in 2017. It will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 29, at the Naval Park’s Hangar Building.

Three Western New York women who enlisted in the military during the Vietnam War will reflect on their service:

•Kathleen Eisenried is a U.S. Air Force veteran who served as airman 1st class from 1974-76. After completing her basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, she was stationed at Travis Air Force Base in California as a psychiatric specialist, working on the psychiatric unit.

•Polly Gowanlock is a U.S. Navy veteran who served as petty officer 1st class from 1974-85. She worked as a personnel specialist, or “personnelman,” in the recruiting district in Newark, New Jersey, and was later stationed in Rota, Spain.

•Donna Lamonica-Sample is a U.S. Army veteran who served as specialist 5 from 1969-72. She was in Medical Company and worked on the burn unit at Brooke Army Hospital at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. After going to school for social work, she worked in the mental health field at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Naval Park’s docents, many of whom are Vietnam War veterans, will participate in the ceremony, which will include an honor guard and the singing of the national anthem by George Miller. There will be a wreath laying at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial immediately following the ceremony.

Vietnam-era veterans will receive free admission to the Naval Park throughout the day on March 29.

Image courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park.

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The Naval Park is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, with the last ticket sold at 4 p.m. Starting May 1, the Naval Park will be open seven days a week.

The Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the nation’s largest inland naval park and the home of four U.S. Naval vessels: USS The Sullivans, USS Little Rock, USS Croaker, and PTF-17. Located on Buffalo’s waterfront, this unique family destination is committed to its mission, which is to honor, educate, inspire and preserve. The Buffalo Naval & Military Park also features a museum, U.S. military exhibits, and a Veterans Park with 15 monuments and memorials dedicated to those who served this country.

More information about the Buffalo Naval Park is available at www.BuffaloNavalPark.org.