Veterans attending this year’s Wyandotte County Veterans Day Commemoration on Nov. 10 will be encouraged to do live recording for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.
The annual Wyandotte County Veterans Day Commemoration event will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Salvation Army Harbor Light Village, 6723 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
The guest speaker will be Retired Sgt. First Class Gretchen Meitler, a veteran of the Iraq war and member of Tonganoxie VFW Post 9271. She served in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004 to 2005. She also served in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
Sgt. Meitler, a native of Fremont, Nebraska, was the first female in her graduating class at the U.S. Army Reserve. She joined the U.S. Army Reserve as a junior in high school. She attended basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, in 1992 and graduated from high school in May 1993, later going on to complete her advance individual training as a record telecommunications center operators in August 1993.
Sgt. Meitler has a bachelor’s degree from Bellevue (Nebraska) University. She has received numerous military decorations.
A brunch will be served. This year’s program will recognize current era veterans, with a special acknowledgment of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
The free community event is presented by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 6401. Partners and sponsors include the Kansas City, Kansas, Women’s Chamber, the Kansas City, Kansas, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Salvation Army Harbor Light Village, Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library and Providence Medical Center.