Milwaukee VA to commemorate 9/11 anniversary

The first will occur in the morning, when community volunteers will clean headstones at Wood National Cemetery. In the afternoon, the medical center will host a Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony to honor Veterans who served in the post-9/11 era as well as seven local post-9/11 Veterans who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and are interred on the Milwaukee VA grounds at Wood National Cemetery. Both events are open to media who wish to capture impactful images and sound to mark remembrance of Patriot Day and the National Day of Service and Remembrance.

• EVENT #1: Wood National Cemetery headstone cleaning for 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance
• TIME AND DATE: 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 11

• LOCATION: Report to Wood National Cemetery office; building 1301, 5000 West National Ave., Milwaukee.

   

• EVENT #2: 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony
• TIME AND DATE: 1 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 11

• LOCATION: Milwaukee VA Medical Center, 5000 W. National Ave., Milwaukee. The ceremony will be in the Unity Chapel, which is on the ground floor of the hospital.

   

ORDER OF EVENTS: The ceremony will honor each of the post-9/11 Veterans buried in Wood National Cemetery on the Milwaukee VA grounds. It will include remarks from Milwaukee VA Medical Center Director Jim McLain, Wood National Cemetery assistant director David Barnes, Keri Brezgel of the Veterans Benefits Administration and Darcie Greuel, manager of the Milwaukee VA’s Post-9/11 Military to VA Case Management Program. During the ceremony, biographies of the seven service members will be shared:

• Spc. Scott T. Nagorski of Greenfield
• Cpl. Stephen W. Castner of Cedarburg
• Sgt. 1st Class Scott J. Brown of Brookfield
• Spc. Michelle M. Witmer of New Berlin
• Spc. Michael A. McGlothin of Hartford and Milwaukee
• Cpl. Adrian V. Soltau of Milwaukee
• Staff Sgt. Todd R. Cornell of West Bend and Menomonee Falls

(Graves of these fallen service members are all in Section 49 of Wood National Cemetery, with the exception of Scott Nagorski, who is in Section 50.)

There also will be chaplain prayers for lost lives, emergency responders, military and their families, and the introduction of a Hope Tree.

Media: If you are interested in covering the ceremony, please contact the Public Affairs Office at 414-382-5363 or email vhamiwpublicaffairs@va.gov to coordinate access to the medical center.