The ceremony, which is sponsored by the Cemetery Advisory Council, will be held at the cemetery's chapel. Brig. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, The Adjutant General, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, will be the keynote speaker.

The service is dedicated to the memory of Michael Alexander, a member of the American Legion, who beginning in 1986, visited each veteran's resting place at the Doyle Cemetery; paused for a moment of silence; and then played taps at each gravesite. This ritual was repeated each year through 1995 when a decision was made to hold a ceremony at the chapel. In 1998 the annual Veterans Day event was named in honor of Alexander because of his dedication to all veterans. After his death in 1999, he was interred with his comrades at Doyle.

Prior to the Veterans Day service, the Advisory Council will conduct a Flag Retirement Ceremony at 10:30 a.m., at the chapel, at which more than 2,500 flags that are no longer serviceable will be retired. The flags already have been burned and their ashes will be buried as part of the ceremony.

The Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery is the state's only state-operated veterans' cemetery; dedicated in 1986, it is funded jointly by state and federal governments and is under the management of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. For more information on the cemetery, go to www.state.nj.us/military/cemetery/index.html.