WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Naval Officers Association (NNOA) and the U.S. Navy Memorial are joining for a special ceremony to recognize Lorenzo DuFau, a WWII Navy Veteran, whose life story is told in the new movie "PROUD," starring the late actor Ossie Davis. The movie opens in theaters throughout the Washington, D.C. area on Friday, September 23.

The movie tells the true story of the men of the USS Mason, the only African-American Sailors to take a warship into battle in WWII.

NNOA and the Navy Memorial will make their presentations to DuFau, outside, on the U.S. Navy Memorial at 5 p.m., on Tuesday, September 20. The Navy Memorial has been supportive of the story of the crew of the USS Mason, which began as a documentary 10 years ago.

Now an independent film, a rough cut of the movie, "Proud" was shown to the actor Ossie Davis (who died in February) at the Navy Memorial in June, 2003. Two years later, "Proud" is being released to the general public at 20 theaters across the Washington Metro area.

The Black Congressional Caucus Veterans Brain Trust, the Foundation for the Advancement of African Americans in Film and the Foundation for the National Archives will then join together for a "special screening" of the movie on Wednesday, September 21 at 7 p.m., at the William McGowan Theatre in the National Archives Building.

The U.S. Navy Memorial is located at 701 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C., or via METRO at the Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter stop.

Source: U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation

Web site: http://www.lonesailor.org/