Vanderbilt Museum to salute veterans, active military members as guests
Sponsored by Northwell Health and PSEG Long Island
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport will thank veterans and active military personnel and their families for their extraordinary service, on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 12, 13 and 14 from noon to 4 p.m.
The Museum will offer them free general admission plus guided Mansion tours and Planetarium shows. (Veterans’ proof of military service, or active-duty military ID required for complimentary guest admission.)
Veterans Day – which commemorates the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 that signaled the end of World War I, known as Armistice Day – honors veterans of all wars.
The Vanderbilt salutes veterans and active military personnel in honor of the Vanderbilt family’s 132-year participation in U.S. military history – from the War of 1812 through World War II. William K. Vanderbilt II (1878-1944), an accomplished sailor and yachtsman, served in the Navy during World War I and later was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
In 1941, the U.S. government had purchased Mr. Vanderbilt’s Sikorsky amphibious plane for wartime duty. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the horrific destruction of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought Mr. Vanderbilt’s support to help defend the nation.
Mr. Vanderbilt gave his 264-foot yacht Alva to the Navy, which converted it to a gunboat, the USS Plymouth. (Before the war, he moored the Alva near the mansion, in Northport Bay.) The Plymouth was sunk by a torpedo from a German U-boat on August 4, 1943.
*Please note starting Monday, November 8th, the Mansion, Museum, and Planetarium will be open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Please bring a Mask: Face Coverings Required Indoors for All Visitors Ages 2+
For more information, call 631-854-5579 or visit www.vanderbiltmuseum.org.
