Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - To commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy landings, also known as D-Day, the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park on Thursday will be holding a special dedication ceremony and unveiling of a new special portion of their Monuments Garden.
"When people come down, they can see upwards of 15 different monuments and memorials. And this year, we have a plaque and display made in our gardens for honoring the 80th anniversary of the day," says Shane Stephenson, Curator and Director of Museum Collections at the park.
Everyone is invited to attend the dedication ceremony at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, which includes a sprinkling of Normandy Beach sand and the unveiling of the garden complete with a Czech hedgehog replica and other educational displays.
"[It] will really be something that people can reflect on to memorialize that day, and to teach kids and grandkids about, what over 4,000 sailors and soldiers sacrificed that one day," added Stevenson, who notes many veterans will be attending, including one or two D-Day vets.
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"We know that there were at least 20 servicemen from Buffalo and Western New York that perished on the day itself, the 6th of June, 1944. That number probably gets higher as you go through, D-Day plus one, D-Day plus two, which would have been June 7 and June 8 of 1944, but we do have a listing of the names of the 20 veterans."
Meanwhile at the park, fundraising efforts continue to fully repair USS The Sullivans, the plan being to drydock the vessel to make some significant repairs to the hull. However, the nearest drydock is in Erie, PA and that is a costly venture.
"Management and staff have been working together to create another campaign capital campaign push in the fall of 2024. We are working with the drydock, getting cost estimates. We're looking at about a $13 million shortfall as of right now. We are also approaching New York State, the county and the City of Buffalo, with proposals and plans to see if we can secure that funding, and also through grants. But we ourselves are planning another fundraising campaign for early fall of 2024, leading to the fall of 2025 when we hope to get the USS The Sullivans into drydock," Stephenson said.
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