Mercedes Ellington To Receive Spirit of '45 Award At 1st Annual NIGHT OF SWING

Mercedes Ellington To Receive Spirit of '45 Award At 1st Annual "Night of Swing" Saturday, Aug. 12 at Wyndham New Yorker Hotel Honoring America's Greatest Generation ; Co-Hosted By United War Veteran Council, Former GIs And Their Gals Will Swing to Music of Ellington, Goodman, Miller, Dorsey & Basie

Mercedes Ellington, a celebrated performer, choreographer and director who works to preserve and extend the legacy of her grandfather, Duke Ellington, through her leadership of the Duke Ellington Center For The Arts, will receive the Spirit of '45 Day National Leaders Medal at a special Night of Swing tribute to the Greatest Generation on Saturday, Aug. 12, at the Wyndham New Yorker Hotel.

GIs and their gals will swing once again, as they did 70 years ago, as the United War Veterans Council (UWVC) and Spirit of '45 honor World War II veterans and home front workers at the First Annual Night of Swing, open to all ages, featuring the George Gee Swing Orchestra. Up to 100 members of the Greatest Generation - WWII veterans and spouses and home front workers - are expected to attend and will be honored. Come dressed in your favorite '40s style attire - Sailor & nurse couples and Rosie the Riveter lookalikes are especially welcome!

"We are delighted that Mercedes Ellington has accepted our invitation to attend and be honored at this event, says Dan McSweeney, President of the United War Veteran Council (UWVC). "During World War II, the music of Duke Ellington and the other great swing orchestras of the day played a major role in boosting the morale of those GIs on the frontlines through the "Victory Discs" program in which Duke Ellington's music was sent to deployed troops..The big band music was also enjoyed by scores of civilians at home who worked countless hours in munitions factories, hospitals, and USO hospitality centers."

"I am much honored to be invited to this important event," says Ms. Ellington. "I was very close to my grandfather and often traveled with him and his orchestra. Having been born and raised in Washington, DC, where his father worked in the White House as a butler. I know that Uncle Edward - the name Duke preferred being called by relatives and close friends - would be very proud of the work being done by UWVC on behalf of veterans."

Tickets are $45 per person or $75 for VIP (info at ticket link). Price includes light refreshments. To purchase tickets, visit https://swingtribute45.ticketleap.com/swingtribute. Proceeds benefit the Brooklyn War Memorial restoration, honoring WWII veterans. The Wyndham New Yorker Hotel, home to the WWII Wall of Honor, is at 481 Eighth Avenue.

The evening kicks off at 8 PM with a "Heroes Reception" for WWII veterans, their spouses and original Rosie the Riveters, co-hosted by the United War Veterans Council, the Brooklyn WWII Memorial restoration campaign, Big Apple Honor Flight, the HISTORY Channel, and representatives of America's WWII Allies and countries they liberated in 1945.

The evening includes a tribute to President Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms, a vision of world peace that inspired our Greatest Generation and is as timely today as ever.

There will be swing dancing until midnight to the Big Band music of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, performed by the famous George Gee Swing Orchestra. Free lessons for first-time swing dancers will be provided by the expert instructors of You Should Be Dancing Studios NYC.

Also honored will be the women who served in uniform during WWII by celebrating the 75th anniversary of the formation of the WAVES, WACs and SPARS.

Southwest Airlines and the Frontiers of Flight Museum are bringing "America's Longest Working Rosie the Riveter" Elinor Marie Otto, 97, to lead a salute to the women who served with her on the Home Front, and announce a new Spirit of '45 initiative to create a living memorial honoring their legacy.

The Spirit of '45 National Leaders Award honors those who help share the lessons of unity and sacrifice of the Greatest Generation, and is presented by Ms Otto and WWII veterans on behalf of Senator Susan Collins, who sponsored Spirit of '45 Day when it was unanimously passed by the U.S. Congress in 2010.

Previous recipients of the Medal include former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, TV icon and WWII Army Air Corps vet Norman Mailer, former Yankees and WWII vets Jerry Coleman and Yogi Berra, Hollywood actors and WWII veterans Ernest Borgnine, Tony Curtis (aka Bernie Schwartz of The Bronx), Scarlett Johansson and Kirk Douglas, and former U.S. Senators and WWII Army veterans Spirit of '45 Day co-sponsors the late Dan Inouye and Frank Lautenberg.