Vanderbilt Museum Archive photo
The Vanderbilt Museum will once again honor veterans and active-duty service members and their families by offering them free admission on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, November 9, 10 and 11, from 11:30 am to 4:00 p.m. Sponsored by Northwell Health.
The Vanderbilt Museum’s Veterans Day Salute includes free general admission and access to the Estate grounds, Museum and all exhibits, and one free Planetarium show and mansion tour. (Veterans’ proof of military service, or active-duty military ID required for complimentary guest admission.)
Guided mansion tours have limited capacity and at times may be sold out.
Vanderbilt Museum Archive photo
Mansion tours will highlight the Vanderbilt family participation in military history from the War of 1812 through World War II. William K. Vanderbilt II, an accomplished sailor and yachtsman, served during World War I as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the horrific destruction of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought the support of yacht owners to help defend our nation. Mr. Vanderbilt gave his 264-foot yacht Alva to the Navy, which converted it to a gunboat, the USS Plymouth. In 1941, the U.S. government had purchased Mr. Vanderbilt’s Sikorsky amphibious plane for wartime duty. The Plymouth was sunk by a torpedo from a German U-boat on August 4, 1943. Before the war, the Alva often was moored near the mansion, in Northport Harbor.
