FORT LEE, Va. – Media are invited to a Holocaust Remembrance observance Thursday, 11:30 a.m., at the Lee Theater here.

         WHAT:        Holocaust Remembrance Observance

           WHO:        Open to the public

         WHEN:        11:30 a.m., Thursday, May 4

       WHERE:        Lee Theater

          COST:        Free

Holocaust survivor, Jay Ipson, 81, co-founder and former executive director of the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, will be the featured speaker.

The program, themed “Learning from the Holocaust: The Strength of the Human Spirit,” will be hosted by Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combined Arms Support Command. The observance supports an annual eight-day period called the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, which was designated by Congress to help citizens commemorate and draw lessons from the Holocaust.

Ipson’s talk will be centered on his family’s horrific experiences in Lithuania during the Holocaust. He will share the story of how he and his parents escaped the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and hid for months underground.

In 1947 at age 12, Ipson and his family immigrated to the United States via Munich, Germany.

Media planning to attend must contact Sarah Gauvin at (804) 734-6965, (804) 400-7273 or sarah.r.gauvin.civ@mail.mil by 10 a.m., Thursday to coordinate an escort to the event.

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Fort Lee Soldiers, families and civilian employees began a century of support to the nation in 1917 when Camp Lee was established to train the 80th Division for service during WWI. Today, Fort Lee is the Army’s Home of Sustainment and supports the training, education and development of adaptive Army professionals in fields such as transportation, supply, culinary arts and equipment repair and maintenance. Major organizations on the installation include the Defense Commissary Agency, Defense Contract Management Agency, Combined Arms Support Command, the Army Logistics University, U.S. Army Ordnance School, U.S. Army Quartermaster School and U.S. Army Transportation School. Fort Lee supports nearly 86,000 Soldiers, retirees, veterans, family members and civilian employees and boasts an economic impact of about $2.4 billion per year.