GARDINER — An annual remembrance of Navy Seabee and Medal of Honor recipient Marvin G. Shields is one of the Veterans Day ceremonies planned today on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Most Peninsula ceremonies honoring veterans were Sunday.
The Seabees of Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest, Naval Construction Maintenance Battalion Detachment 303, Navy Seabee Veterans of America and family members will honor Shields at 11 a.m. today at the Gardiner Cemetery.
The ceremony draws Seabees from throughout the Northwest.
Because of limited parking, the public is encouraged to park at Gardiner Community Church at 1040 Old Gardiner Road, where a bus will take attendees to the cemetery beginning at 10:15 a.m.
Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Shields died in 1965 and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson for gallantry during combat in Vietnam.
This year’s honor ceremony will be especially poignant, as Shields’ daughter Barbara died of heart failure April 28, organizers said.
Shields was a graduate of Port Townsend High School and lived in Discovery Bay.
He is buried at the Gardiner Cemetery.
Balloon rides for vets
In Sequim, free rides for veterans in tethered hot-air balloons will be featured at La Vina Cafe today.
The cafe at 111 River Road will honor veterans from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday.
Free tethered balloon rides for veterans will be available at noon, weather permitting.
For more information, phone 360-460-7083.
Free park entrance
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — In honor of Veterans Day, the national park is waiving entrance fees today.
The fee-free designation applies to entrance fees only and does not apply to other fees.
For more information, visit www.nps.gov/olym.