Barbara Walters will serve as emcee for an event marking the one year anniversary of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” repeal and honoring Admiral Mike Mullen, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The September 18 event, titled Celebrating Our Heroes, will take place aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City and is hosted by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), OutServe and the Interbank Roundtable Committee (IRC).

Mullen, who played a key leadership role in repeal of the military policy which for 18 years banned gay troops from serving openly, will be honored at the event.

“The addition of Barbara Walters as our emcee for the evening makes an already exciting lineup even more spectacular. It's only fitting that America's most influential and accomplished journalist – who has made history herself a time or two – would join us for this historic and emotional event,” Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of SLDN, said in a statement.

The “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy officially ended on September 20, 2011.

Tickets for Celebrating Our Heroes can be purchased at www.sldn.org/intrepid2012.