HAMILTON - Veterans, especially those who served in the Middle East from 1990-2004, and the public are invited to a Veterans Day program and dedication of a newly acquired 155mm howitzer at 9 a.m. Thursday at Veterans Park, 20 New London Road. The howitzer will be dedicated in honor of all men and women who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Light refreshments will be served.

CLERMONT COUNTY

NEW RICHMOND - Services will be 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Veterans Memorial on Susanna Way.

BATAVIA - The Clermont County Veterans Day Parade begins at 7 p.m. Thursday. Line-up will be near the Batavia Post Office on West Main Street at 6 p.m. Organizations should call the parade hot line at (513) 732-7245 to report their entry.

HAMILTON COUNTY

BLUE ASH - Ceremonies begin at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Blue Ash Bicentennial Veterans' Memorial Park at Hunt and Cooper roads. Keynote speaker will be Lt. Gen. Richard V. Reynolds, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

A picnic-style lunch follows at the Blue Ash Recreation Center, 4433 Cooper Road. Cost: $3 per person.

BRIDGETOWN - A Veterans Day program begins at 7:50 a.m. Friday at Bridgetown Middle School, 3900 Race Road. Veterans will discuss their service experiences in four morning sessions. At 10 a.m. a closing ceremony will feature bagpipes and a wreath-laying.

DOWNTOWN - The annual Veterans Day program begins at 10:45 a.m. Thursday at the Main Public Library, 800 Vine St. World War II veteran Tom Anderson, who served as an Army Ranger during the Battle of the Bulge, will speak.

The library also will host these programs in honor of Veterans Day:

• "Veteran Ancestors: Those Other Wars, " 10 a.m. Saturday - Information about finding ancestors in lesser known wars, with Curt Witcher, historical genealogy department manager at the Allen County Public Library.

• Surviving World War II: Tales of Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times, 2 p.m. Sunday - The Library Programs Fund will present Glenna Meckstroth discussing her recent book.

EDEN PARK - Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 10 will hold a service at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Eden Park Drive. Guest speaker will be Maj. Wayne Baughman, U.S. Air Force Reserve.

GREEN TOWNSHIP - Members of the armed forces will be honored at ceremonies Thursday at Veterans Park, 6231 Harrison Ave. An M-60A3 Army tank will open for tours at 9:30 a.m. and the parade will be held at 11 a.m. Information: Joe Russo at (513) 574-9757.

MILFORD - A Veterans Day assembly is 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Madeira Middle School, temporarily located at 527 Lila Ave. Guest speakers will be John F. Dumont and Jack Buchholz.

MOUNT HEALTHY - The 15th annual Veterans Day Parade begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at Hastings and Hamilton avenues, sponsored by the Veterans Day Committee of Hamilton County. The parade ends with a service at the Veterans Memorial on McMakin Avenue.

PRICE HILL - The Covedale Branch Library, 4980 Glenway Ave., will present "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the War - Reminiscences of World War II" with Bob Doolan at 6:30 p.m. today.

SHARONVILLE - A Veterans Day program begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Princeton High School's Matthews Auditorium, 25 W. Sharon Road. The school's A Cappella Choir and Symphonic Orchestra will perform. Also, two Korean War veterans - William "Bill" Hickey and Wylbor "Gene" Molen - will receive their high school diplomas. Information: Vicki Hoppe, (513) 552-8283.

SYCAMORE TWP. - A Veterans Day program begins at 10 a.m. Thursday in the new gymnasium at Moeller High School, 9001 Montgomery Road. Vietnam veteran Tim Waechter will speak. Call Diane Hoctor at (513) 791-1680, ext. 125.

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS - World War II veterans who liberated the concentration camps are honored at an exhibit at Hebrew Union College's Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, Mayerson Hall, 3101 Clifton Ave. Guided tours of the exhibit begin at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Speakers include Elmer Reis, a Cincinnati veteran who helped liberate the Ohrdruf concentration camp, and Henry Meyer, a Cincinnati musician who survived the camp. Information: (513) 221-1875.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY

Veterans and military personnel can ride for free all day Thursday on Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky buses.

BOONE COUNTY

BURLINGTON - Last year's second-grade class from Immaculate Heart of Mary School will begin a Veterans Day assembly at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday in the gymnasium by honoring Tia Meyer, a soldier the children adopted who has now returned from Iraq.

The assembly, for children in grades 2-4, also will include a reading of a letter from President Bush; a song honoring military spouses by Jerry Tolbert; a flag ceremony by the Boone County Sheriff Color Guard; and a speech by H.B. Deatherage, a Vietnam veteran and organizer of the Boone County Veterans Memorial.

FLORENCE - Elizabeth Wilson, a cadet captain in Kentucky's Civil Air Patrol Air Force Auxiliary, will recognize veterans with a speech at 6 p.m. Thursday11at the annual Veterans Day program at the Boone County Veterans Memorial on the Florence Government Center's campus, 8100 Ewing Blvd.

Participants include Florence Community Band, the Boone and Florence honor guards. H.B. Deatherage, organizer of the Boone County Veterans Memorial will emcee the program.

CAMPBELL COUNTY

COLD SPRING - A Disabled American Veterans ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Thursday11at the group's national headquarters, 3725 Alexandria Pike.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS - Northern Kentucky University biological sciences professor Becky Evans will talk about her time spent in Iraq and Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom at a faculty luncheon seminar beginning at 12:05 p.m. Wednesday in Room 304 of the W. Frank Steely Library.

Register by e-mail crusem@nku.edu or call (859) 572-5803.

NEWPORT - A Veterans Day ceremony begins at 11 a.m. Thursday, at the city's municipal building, 998 Monmouth St.

If your community, school or group is planning a Veterans Day event that is open to the public, fax details to Janinne Thompson at (513) 755-4150, or e-mail to jthompson@enquirer.com.

Veterans Day events