With the announcement that the U.S. Department of Defense had added Huntington as an official Vietnam War Commemoration partner, Supervisor Frank P. Petrone kicked off a day’s worth of events June 11 marking the 40th anniversary of the war’s end that featured both a special breakfast and a ceremony unveiling the plaques adding 378 names to the Town’s Vietnam War memorial.
More than 400 persons – veterans, their families, veterans groups and supporters – attended the breakfast, which included performances by the Island Symphony Orchestra and renowned tenor Christopher Macchio. Huntington native Frank Libutti, a retired U.S. Marine corps lieutenant general who also served as New York City’s deputy police commissioner overseeing the counterterrorism bureau and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s undersecretary for information analysis and infrastructure protection, delivered a stirring keynote address.
Mr. Libutti spoke passionately about his service in Vietnam as a platoon commander and about the vivid memories of colleagues who saved his life and those who lost theirs.
A key part of the breakfast program was the reading of the names of the 49 Huntington residents who were killed in Vietnam.
“Much has changed in the four decades since the war’s end,” Supervisor Petrone noted in his message introducing the commemorative journal. “Included among those changes is a broader understanding of the depth of the sacrifice made by all those who served in the war and an even greater appreciation of what they did in response to duty’s call.” The Supervisor noted that the Town was proud to receive the official commemoration partner designation from the Department of Defense as an indication of the Town’s commitment to remembering those who served in the war.
Town Council Members Mark Cuthbertson, Susan A. Berland and Eugene Cook also delivered brief remarks. Councilwoman Tracey Edwards was unable to attend. 
A few hours later, many of those who attended the breakfast gathered at Veterans Plaza in front of Town Hall to dedicate the plaques with the 378 names added to the Vietnam Memorial, bringing the total to 1,540.
Originally unveiled in 2003, the wall lists the names of Vietnam War era veterans who live or have lived in Huntington. That includes persons on the original three plaques and those who were added in the subsequent five years before the wall was closed in 2008 and a fourth plaque was installed.
In 2013, representatives from the Huntington High School Class of 1964 reunion committee approached Supervisor Petrone about the possibility of reopening the wall to add names of about 20 of their classmates. The Supervisor determined that there was room for the wall to accommodate additional names and opened the wall to all eligible veterans for an additional period that ended December 31, 2014.
At the afternoon ceremony, Supervisor Petrone thanked the reunion committee members, especially Lou Pagano, a Vietnam veteran who chaired the committee. The ceremony also included remarks from Paul Kelly, chair of the Vietnam committee of the Town’s Veterans Advisory Board.