Niagara to Host Special Forces Reunion and Dedication Ceremony

NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, NY (04/19/2013)(readMedia)-- Approximately 70 Green Berets from across the United States will hold a reunion this coming weekend here at the base featuring a tree dedication ceremony on Saturday, April 20 at 3:30pm to honor twenty deceased members of their unit.

Brigadier General Frank Brusino, retired commander of the 19th Special Forces 3rd Battalion and a retired Niagara-Wheatfield School District administrator, said the event will be held Saturday at the base's Heritage Center and will feature the planting of a tree and dedication of a memorial in honor of the members who have since passed.

Brusino said the group which has had members who served as far back as World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War to the present, was based in White Plains, Schenectady and Buffalo, NY. The unit was part of the New York National Guard.

While the tree was planted at the base on Thursday, the main event will begin at noon Saturday with registration followed by several events including the dedication of the tree and memorial at 3:30pm, a cocktail hour at 5 pm, dinner at 7 pm and a benediction at 9:30pm. The reunion will end Sunday with brunch from 10am to noon.

Media interested in attending the tree dedication ceremony should report to the base main gate on Lockport Road at 3:00pm Saturday, April 20 for escort to the event site.

For more information please contact the 914th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office at 716-236-2136.