Veterans Day Observance

About the Event

Veterans Day Observance 2024

Join us for our annual Veterans Day observance ceremony saluting all who have served with keynote speaker Mitchell Yockelson.

About the Speaker

Mitchell Yockelson

Yockelson manages the National Archives and Records Administration Archival Recovery Program, leading investigations of thefts of historical documents and museum artifacts.

His work has been featured on 60 Minutes, PBS, C-SPAN, the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post. Additionally, Yockelson is a professor of military history at Norwich University and the author of many books, articles and reviews. His latest book, The Paratrooper Generals: Matthew Ridgway, Maxwell Taylor, and the American Airborne from D-Day through the Normandy Campaign was published by Stackpole in 2020 and discussed on Someone Talked! the National D-Day Memorial’s official podcast. Yockelson’s next book, The Lion and the General, a story about the friendship between Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower, will be published in fall 2025.

Yockelson regularly leads battlefield tours and frequently lectures on military history. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland.

A book signing with Yockelson will immediately follow the ceremony in the Bobbie G. Johnson Pavilion.  Books can be purchased online or in the Memorial’s gift shop.

Memorial Wall Addition

After years of research and verification, we are honored to add Father Ignatius Maternowski to plaque W-48, among the names of so many others who gave their lives over 80 years ago on D-Day. In his address, Yockelson will share Maternowski’s story of valor before a special blessing of the plaque. The Memorial will also dedicate a narrative plaque honoring the 102nd Calvary Group and the latest brick additions to the Annie J. Bronson Veterans Memorial Walk.

Whiskey 7 Flyover

Among the more than 900 C-47s that flew on D-Day was Whiskey 7 (W7) part of the 9th Air Force, 316th Troop Carrier Group, 37th Troop Carrier Squadron.  Whiskey 7 was the lead plane of the second wave of airborne paratroopers on D-Day.  She carried 21 members of the 82nd Airborne, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, H Company with the designated drop zone of Sainte-Mère-Église.  W7 would later participate in “Operation Market Garden” and “Operation Varsity.”

Free admission for the public until noon. All veterans receive free admission all day. Food truck open following ceremony. Guided tours begin at 1PM. Please bring your own chair. No food in plaza. No pets (service animals welcome).

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